LIBR ARY OF CONG RESS, 

ChaiE-X'fo pffi^ it lo. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



CONTRIBUTIONS 



TO 



THE EARLY HISTORY 

OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

IN INDIANA 

TOGETHER WITH BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 
OF THE PIONEER MINISTERS 

BY 

HANFORD A. EDSON 



MAY 7-189R 

«... >• A 



CINCINNATI, INDIANAPOLIS, AND CHICAGC 

WINONA PUBLISHING COMPANY 



2nd CO PY, T WQ COPIES RECEIVED. 
1898. 



6653 

Copyright, 1898,' 
By Hanford A. Edson 



Printed and Bound by Flood & Vincent, The Chautauqua-Century Press, 
Meadville, Pa. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



These pages seek to preserve materials which would 
soon have been beyond reach — diaries, letters, the remi- 
niscences of pioneers. It will be a satisfaction if any one 
is prompted to put other such materials into a safe place. 

Several years since I had occasion to make inquiries 
about the ministers who laid the foundations of our Indiana 
church. The study took me into an unknown land. I 
was surprised at every step. Courage, self-sacrifice, 
piety, were to be expected ; but I found besides a beau- 
tiful social life, uncommon learning, undoubted genius for 
affairs, and gifts of utterance in every way memorable. 

Such fathers leave for their children the best of all 
legacies. If in any degree I may have helped to perpetu- 
ate their memory and light up their example, I shall 
rejoice. 

Indianapolis, May i, i8g8. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
Beginnings and Spread of Presb yteri anism 
America. 

Genius of the Reformed Churches — Wide Extension of Pres- 
byterianism — Earliest History of the Church in America — 
Presbyterians in New England, New York, New Jersey, 
Delaware, and Virginia — Francis Makemie, Old Han- 
over, and William Robinson — Samuel Davies — David 
Rice — Transylvania Presbytery 

CHAPTER II. 
The Settlement of Indiana. 

Discovery of the Great West — Spanish and French Ex- 
plorers — La Salle and the Mississippi Valley — First White 
Man on Indiana Soil — Vincennes the Earliest Settlement 
— French succeeded by English Dominion — Northwestern 
Territory — Indiana Territory — Character of Early 
Settlers — A Large Presbyterian Element 

CHAPTER III. 

The First Missionaries, i 800-1 806. 

Volunteers from Kentucky — Samuel Rannels — Samuel B. 
Robertson — James McGready — James Kemper — Thomas 
Cleland — Organization of First Church — Samuel Thorn- 
ton Scott the First Settled Minister 

CHAPTER IV. 
Hindrances and Disorders Incident to War. 
1807-1814. 

Palmyra Church — James H. Dickey — La wrenceburgh — 
Samuel Baldridge — Charlestown — Joseph B. Lapsley — 
Matthew G. Wallace— Tour of Samuel J. Mills— William 
Robinson at Madison 



vi 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 

The War Over and the Work Advanced. 1815. 

More Missionaries — John McElroy Dickey — His Great Use- 
fulness — Close of the Territorial Period 61 



CHAPTER VI. 
Aid from New England. 1816, 1817. 

McGready, Cleland, and Lapsley Again — Samuel Shannon — 
First New England Missionaries — Nathan B. Derrow — 
Clement Hickman — William Dickey — Daniel C. Banks- 
John Todd at Charlestown — James Balch 81 

CHAPTER VII. 

A Notable Quartet. 181 8. 

William W. Martin at Livonia — Isaac Reed — Orin Fowler 
from the Connecticut Missionary Society — Ravaud K. 
Rodgers Commissioned by the General Assembly — 
Charles Stebbins Robinson on His Way to Missouri . 101 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Better Ecclesiastical Supervision. 1819-1821. 

Lack of Settled Pastors — David Monfort — Thomas C. Searle 

— His Brilliant Promise and Early Death 131 

CHAPTER IX. 

Indianapolis. 1821. 

Seat of Government Transferred from Corydon — First Settle- 
ment and First Settlers at the New Capital — Coe, Blake, 
Scudder, Ray — First Presbyterian Sermon — Ludwell G. 
Gaines — Church Organization Effected — David Choate 
Proctor 138 

CHAPTER X. 
Extension Toward the North. 1822. 



Fort Wayne — John Ross — His Unique History — Ezra H. Day 
at New Albany— William Goodell— Charles C. Beatty . . 148 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



vii 



CHAPTER XL 

The Shadow of Slavery. 1823. 

Joseph Trimble — The Madison Flock again without a Pastor 

—John Finley Crowe at Hanover — The Slavery Conflict . 156 

CHAPTER XII. 

The First Presbytery. 1823, 1824. 

Salem Presbytery Organized — Its Original Members — First 
Records — Tilly H. Brown the First Licentiate — John T. 
Hamilton 162 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Help from Princeton. 1824. 

Samuel Taylor Commissioned by General Assembly — George 
Bush at Indianapolis — Baynard R. Hall in the State Semi- 
nary at Bloomington — Alexander Williamson 169 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Two Fellow-Travelers. 1824. 
John Young's Brief Career — James Harvey Johnston .... 192 

CHAPTER XV. 

A Period of Increased Missionary Zeal. 1825. 

Missions at Andover Seminary — Union of Missionary So- 
cieties — A. H. M. S. — Lucius Alden — Lewis McLeod — 
James Stewart — Samuel Gregg — William Nesbit — Stephen 
Bliss across the Wabash — Samuel G. Lowry in Decatur 
County 206 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Organization of the Synod of Indiana. 1826. 

Condition of Indiana — Truman Perrin— James Crawford — 
Samuel E. Blackburn — James Duncan — Isaac A. Ogden — 
Joseph Robinson — Synod Organized — First Records — 
Calvin Butler — Leander Cobb — William Lowry — William 
Henderson — James Thomson 214 



viii 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
Indiana Presbyterians and Education. 

The First Schools — The State Seminary and College at Bloom- 
ington — Hanover Academy and College — Indiana Theo- 
logical Seminary — Wabash College 228 

APPENDIX. 

I. Missionary Agencies at Work in Indiana previous to 

1826 255. 

II. Ecclesiastical Relations of the Indiana Congregations 

previous to 1826 258 

III. Bibliography 260 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EARLY HIS- 
TORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH IN INDIANA. 



CHAPTER I. 

Beginnings and Spread of Presbyterianism in 
America. 

' ' Go ye into all the world " is a command suited to the 
genius of that community of Christians to which Presby- 
terians belong. 

Nothing is more striking in a general view of the history of the 
Reformed Churches than the variety of countries into which we 
find their characteristic spirit, both in doctrine and polity, pene- 
trating. Throughout Switzerland it was a grand popular move- 
ment. There is, first of all, Zwingle, the hero of Zurich, already 
in 1516 preaching against the idolatrous veneration of Mary, a 
man of generous culture and intrepid spirit, who at last laid down 
his life upon the field of battle. In Basle we find CEcolampadius, 
and also Bullinger, the chronicler of the Swiss reform. Farel 
arouses Geneva to iconoclasm by his inspiring eloquence. 
Thither comes in 1536, from the France which disowned him, 
Calvin, the mighty law-giver, great as a preacher, an expositor, a 
teacher, and a ruler ;• cold in exterior, but burning with internal 
fire ; who produced at twenty-four years of age his unmatched 
"Institutes," and at thirty-five had made Geneva, under anal- 
most theocratic government, the model city of Europe, with its 
inspiring motto, "Post tenebras lux." He was feared and op- 
posed by the libertines of his day, as he is in our own. His errors 
were those of his own times ; his greatness is of all times. Hooker 
calls him ' ' incomparably the wisest man of the French Church ' ' ; 
he compares him to the "Master of Sentences," and says "that 
though thousands were debtors to him as touching divine knowl- 
edge, yet he was to none, only to God." Montesquieu declares 

9 



IO EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

that "the Genevese should ever bless the day of his birth." 
Jewel terms him "a reverend father, and worthy ornament of the 
church of God." "He that will not honor the memory of Cal- 
vin," says Mr. Bancroft, " knows but little of the origin of Ameri- 
can liberty." Under his influence Geneva became the "fertile 
seed-plot" of reform for all Europe ; with Zurich and Strasbourg, 
it was the refuge of the oppressed from the British Isles, and thus 
indoctrinated England and ourselves with its own spirit. 

The same form of faith was planted in the German Palatinate, 
modified by the influence of Melanchthon, receiving an admirable 
exposition in the Heidelberg Catechism and the writings of 
Ursinus, and forming the German Reformed Church. Holland 
accepted the same system of faith with the spirit of martyrdom ; 
against Charles and Philip, against Alba and the Inquisition, it 
fought heroically, under the Prince of Orange, of imperishable 
fame. In contending for freedom in religion it imbibed the love 
of civil freedom, which it brought also to our shores ; and though 
Guizot does not once name Holland in his "History of European 
Civilization," we can never name it but with honor and gratitude ; 
itself oppressed, it became the refuge of the oppressed. In Eng- 
land, God overruled the selfish policy of Henry VIII. to the 
furtherance of the gospel ; the persecution of Mary, 1553-8, sent 
forth the best of England's blood to Zurich and Geneva, there to 
imbibe more deeply the principles of the Reform and to bring 
back the seeds of Puritanism, which germinated in spite of the 
High Court of Commission and the Acts of Uniformity of 1559 and 
subsequent years. The universities were Calvinistic in their most 
vigorous period, when Bucer and Peter Martyr taught in them a 
pure faith. "The Reformation in England," says the Christian 
Remembrancer (1845), "ended by showing itself a decidedly Cal- 
vinistic movement." "The Reformation produced Calvinism; 
this was its immediate offspring, its genuine matter-of-fact expres- 
sion." And need I speak of Scotland, where the towering form 
of John Knox, also taught in Geneva, stands out severe in doc- 
trine and morals, in vivid contrast with the loveliness of the frail 
and passionate Mary? Her chivalry could not stem the tide. 
Presbyterianism prevailed, never to lose its hold of the Scotch 
nation. Their "fervid genius " was well pleased with this strong 
theology. Tenacity like that of the Burghers and of the Anti- 
Burghers, both New and Old Light, and the indomitable spirit of 
religious independence go with them wherever they go. The 
Free Church battles in the nineteenth century for the principles of 



SPREAD OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. II 



its sires. The Solemn League and Covenant reappear in our 
own land, transferred from religion to politics in the Mecklenburg 
Declaration. 1 

Upon the earliest history of the Presbyterian Church in 
America a degree of obscurity rests. The few feeble con- 
gregations on the new continent were scattered over an 
immense breadth of territory. 2 Probably the French 
Huguenots were the earliest Presbyterian immigrants. 
These came under the auspices of Admiral Coligny to the 
Carolinas in 1562 and to Florida in 1565. They were not 
successful however. Alexander Whitaker, ' ' the self- 
denying apostle of Virginia," 3 writes of his work in 16 14. 
In New England a considerable number of Puritan Pres- 
byterians were at work before the middle of the seven- 
teenth century. Among those ' ' inclined to Presbyterian 
views of church government" may be mentioned Thomas 
Parker and James Noyes, of Newbury, Mass. , John Eliot, 
the Apostle to the Indians, and Peter Hobart, of Hing- 
ham. 4 At Southold, L. I., a church was organized October 
21, 1640, by John Young, and not much later Pierson, 
Doughty, Fordham, and Denton were preaching in that 
neighborhood, Doughty being the first Presbyterian min- 
ister in New York City and Denton the second. The 
sufferings in Great Britain under James and Charles occa- 
sioned constant accessions to the Presbyterian community 
in America. After the battle of Dunbar, in 1650, many 
Scottish prisoners, Cromwell's Presbyterians, were shipped 
to the plantations beyond the seas to be sold. Upon the 
restoration of Charles II. there was a voluntary exodus 
from the persecuted parishes in Scotland. " Robert Liv- 

1 "Address before the Presbyterian Historical Society at St. Louis," 1855, by Dr. 
Henry B. Smith, pp. 13-5. 

2 See Sprague's "Annals," Vol. III., p. xi. 

3 Bancroft's " History," 1883 ed., Vol. I., p. 104. 

4 Briggs's " American Presbyterianism," p. 94. For a good resumSol the earliest his- 
tory see Ency. Brit., Art. " Presbyterianism." 



I 2 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



ingston came to New York in 1672 with his nephew. He 
was a son of the venerable minister of Ancrum who was 
banished to Holland, and whose name is linked in honora- 
ble remembrance with the signal refreshing at the Kirk of 
Shotts." 1 A Presbyterian settlement near Norfolk, Va. , 
had a pastor from Ireland who died in 1683. Emigrants 
from Scotland and the north of Ireland multiplied in East 
Jersey, Del., along the York and Rappahannock Rivers, 
and in Charleston, S. C. 

A congregational minister of London, one Henry Jacob, 
had removed in 1624 to Virginia, where he died. In 1642 
an appeal was made to New England by seventy-one ' ' in- 
habitants of the county of the Upper Norfolk in Virginia ' ' 
for three ministers ' ■ faithful in pureness of doctrine and in- 
tegrity of life." Knowles, Thompson, and James, who re- 
sponded to this appeal, were successful in their labors, but 
were silenced by the Episcopal authorities, and in less than 
a year returned home. Through the continued intolerance 
of the government, aided by a plague and by Indian massa- 
cres, dissent was nearly rooted out of that region. 2 

The duty of sending the gospel to the colonies had been 
considered in Great Britain in 1641, Mr. Castell of Corten- 
hall parish devising a scheme for that purpose which was 
approved by seventy of the Westminster divines. The 
first formal application to the British churches for aid 
seems, however, to have been a letter from Colonel Wil- 
liam Stevens. It was laid before the Irish Presbytery of 
Laggan in 1680, and Makemie, who yielded to the over- 
ture and soon after migrated to America, became one of 
the most useful pioneers of the church in this country. 3 

1 Webster's " History," p. 66. 

2 Felt's '* Ecclesiastical History," Vol I., pp. 216, 471-7, 487, 496, 515, 526-7. Vol. 
II., p. 7. (Referred to by Gillett, Vol. I., pp. 7-9.) 

3 " It is a fact not generally known that in the year 1636, soon after their establish- 
ment in Ulster, some of these emigrants [the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians] projected a 
settlement in New England. In the month of September of that year the Eaglewing 



SPREAD OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 1 3 



Francis Makemie, a native of county Donegal, Ire- 
land, a student of the University of Glasgow, ordained by 
Laggan Presbytery, came in 1683 to ''Maryland, beside 
Virginia." It has been thought that he first labored on 
the western shore of the Chesapeake, 1 as his name does 
not appear until 1690 in the records of Accomac County. 2 
Not a mark of his pen is preserved with the exception of 
a half-dozen letters. 3 No contemporary sketch of his 
character is to be found. But he was evidently not only 
a pious, learned, and imposing minister, but also a remark- 
ably resolute and persevering man. 4 Though he suffered 
imprisonment in New York for venturing to preach the 
gospel there, his defense of himself before the court both 
won respect and inspired fear. In 1704 he returned to 
Europe, coming back the year after with two more Pres- 
byterian ministers, Hampton and McNish. It is probable 
that Samuel Davis also came to America under his per- 
suasion ; and Nathaniel Taylor, another of the pioneers, 
seems to have been connected with the Makemie family by 
marriage. 5 Only two of the seven 6 original members of 

sailed from Loch Fergus for the Merrimac River with one hundred and forty passengers, 
including the celebrated preachers Robert Blair, John Livingston, James Hamilton, 
and John McClelland. The vessel was driven back by stress of weather, and the next 
year these ministers returned to Scotland, where they affiliated with the still more 
famous Johnston of Warriston and Alexander Henderson, and became prominent in the 
commotions, civil and religious, which led to the subversion of the English throne and 
the execution of its treacherous occupant. 

" Two thirds of a century later, in consequence of persecution from a government 
which in some sense owed its existence to the heroism shown at the terrible siege of 
Londonderry, and the crowning victory of the Boyne, the emigration from Ulster to 
this country began in earnest, and from about the year 1720 swarm followed swarm from 
the great hive, some of the emigrants stopping in New England and New York, but the 
greater part passing into the upper regions of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas." 
— A writer in the New York Tribune, January 13, 1877. 

1 Hodge's " History," p. 66. 

2 " This is the record of a suit brought by him to recover from one William Finney the 
amount due him for molasses sold." — Foote's " Sketches of Virginia," first series, p. 43. 

3 Briggs's "American Presbyterianism," appendix. 

4 Hodge's " History," p. 76. 

5 Webster's " History," p. 318. 

6 Hodge (p. 76), omitting the name of John Hampton, makes the number six. 



14 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the first Presbytery 1 could have been influenced by him in 
their resolution to preach the gospel in America. In 1708 
Makemie died, 2 leaving for his family a considerable estate. 

About the time of Makemie' s decease began the settle- 
ment of that portion of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge, 
and it is interesting to observe how generally the promi- 
nent names of ' ' the Valley ' ' reappear in the later annals 
of the church upon newer ground. Lyle, Stuart, Craw- 
ford, Campbell, Moore, Wallace, Wilson, Cummins, Mc- 
Kee, belong not more to the " Potomoke " region than to 
Kentucky. 

An austere, thoughtful race, they preferred the peaceful pursuits 
of agriculture to the wild license of the hunter's life and constituted 
a manly and virtuous yeomanry, of whom Washington is reported 
to have said, that should all his plans be crushed, and but a single 
standard left him, he would plant that standard on the Blue Ridge, 
make the mountain heights his barrier, and rallying round him the 
noblest patriots of the Valley, found, under better auspices, a new 
republic in the West. 3 

At their request, in 17 19, "the people of Potomoke," 
near Martinsburgh, were supplied with a minister by the 
Synod of Philadelphia. Immigration to that region was 
rapidly increasing and several congregations maintained 
worship without interference from the prelatical authorities 
of the colony. 

Besides the counties on the eastern shore, where the 
blessing of Makemie' s labors remained, and the settlements 
in "the Valley," there were also remarkable religious de- 
velopments in Hanover and the counties adjacent. 

The established clergy were many of them notoriously profligate 

1 It is a familiar fact that the first leaf of the records is wanting. But the organization 
occurred in 1705 or 1706. 

2 " Spence's ' Letters ' contain much information relating to Mr. Makemie. In 
Smith's ' History of New York ' may be found an instructive account of his imprison- 
ment and trial; and the most interesting portion of Dr. Hill's ' Sketches' relate to his 
character and labors." — Hodge, p. 76, foot-note. 

3 Davidson's "Kentucky," p. 21. 



SPREAD OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 1 5 

in their lives, and very few among them preached, or appeared to 
understand, the gospel of Christ. It was under these circum- 
stances that some pious books, or fragments of books, which fell 
into the hands of a few individuals, were made the means of awak- 
ening them to a concern for their eternal interest, and of commen- 
cing a work of grace which was afterward most powerfully and 
happily extended. 1 

A few leaves of Boston's "Fourfold State," which had 
belonged to a good Scotchwoman, came into the possession 
of a wealthy planter, awakened his mind, and brought him 
to the truth. Another prominent citizen of Hanover, Mr. 
Samuel Morris, about the same time got hold of " Luther 
on the Galatians," and was deeply affected by it. In the 
spirit of genuine piety he at once became interested in his 
neighbors, and invited them to his house that they might 
together engage in the reading of religious books. Thus 
was established the famous "Morris' Reading House." 
The large number of people there frequently assembled soon 
attracted the notice of the government, but Mr. Morris and 
his friends declaring themselves ' ' Lutherans " for a time 
escaped further annoyance. 

It was now that William Robinson, son of an English 
Quaker, and a member of New Brunswick Presbytery, was 
making his memorable preaching tour through some of the 
remote counties of Virginia. A singular power accom- 
panied him. Many conversions occurred. It happened 
that these results were witnessed by some of the young 
people of the "Reading-House" assemblies, and their 
report of the matter on their return home so interested 
these inquiring Dissenters that they despatched messengers 
to prevail with Mr. Robinson to visit them. On the 6th 
of July, 1743, he preached the first Presbyterian sermon 
heard in that region, and the interest it kindled rapidly 
increased during the four days he remained with them. 
"There is reason to believe," wrote Mr. Morris himself, 

1 Miller's " Life of Rodgers," p. 32. 



16 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



" there was as much good done by these four sermons as 
by all the sermons preached in these parts before or 
since." 1 Upon Robinson's departure the people secretly 
conveyed into his saddle-bags, as a mark of their grati- 
tude, a considerable sum of money, which he had before 
refused. 

Discovering the benevolent artifice he no longer declined 
receiving the money, but informed his kind friends that he would 
appropriate it to the use of a young man of his acquaintance who 
was studying for the ministry, but embarrassed in his circum- 
stances. "As soon as he is licensed," he added, " we will send 
him to visit you ; it may be that you may now, by your liberality, 
be educating a minister for yourselves." 2 

Samuel Davies was the young student referred to, and 
thus occurs another distinguished name directly in that 
course of providence which, sixty years later, was to carry 
the gospel to the Indiana wilderness. 

Samuel Davies, of Welsh parentage, was born in New- 
castle County, Del., November 3, 1723, and seems to 
have been converted under the preaching of Gilbert Ten- 
nent. After his licensure, though affected with a threaten- 
ing pulmonary disease, he went down to the eastern shore 
of Maryland, where, for two months, he preached by day, 
though delirious with fever at night. In the spring of 
1747 he was sent, by Newcastle Presbytery, to Hanover, 
in Virginia, where ' ' the people received him as an angel of 
God and earnestly urged him to settle among them." 
The following year he accepted the call, obtained from the 
General Court at Williamsburg permission to preach in the 
colony, and entered upon the work which was soon to 
secure, in 1755, the organization of Hanover Presbytery. 3 

1 Gillies's " Historical Collections," Vol. II., p. 330. 

2 Gillett's " History," Vol. I., pp. 114, 115. 

3 Besides William Robinson, it is not to be forgotten that John Roan, the Blairs, and 
the Tennents had also preached the gospel in Virginia, assisting in laying " the founda- 
tion on which Davies builded." Foote's " Sketches of Virginia," first series, p. 146. 



SPREAD OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 1 7 



Though Davies afterward became a notable president of 
Princeton College and a preacher admired no less in Great 
Britain than at home, it is to be doubted whether anything 
he ever accomplished was more serviceable to Christ's 
kingdom than the modest beginnings in Virginia. 

In 1750 Davies prevailed upon John Todd to come to 
his assistance. Settling in Louisa County, contiguous to 
Hanover, Todd soon opened a classical and theological 
school. In this academy James Waddell, Wirt's "blind 
preacher," became first a pupil and afterward an assistant 
instructor. It was here also that David Rice, a young 
man of Todd's congregation, received the inspiration and 
training which fitted him for his subsequent commanding 
position on the frontier, now to be moved westward to the 
hunting grounds of Daniel Boone, and to the very borders 
of the Indiana history. 

The year 1783 opened with a prospect of peace with Great 
Britain, and of comparative quiet from savages ; while the abun- 
dance of the products of the soil promised to reward the labors of 
the husbandmen. New settlers poured [into Kentucky] by thou- 
sands, and the forest and the cane-brake rapidly disappeared 
beneath the axe and the plough. Among those who were 
attracted to this land of promise, flowing, as was represented, 
with milk and honey, was the Rev. David Rice, at that time pas- 
tor of a congregation at the Peaks of Otter. He came, not with 
the intention of becoming a resident, but solely with a view to 
make some provision for his numerous and dependent family ; but, 
being disgusted with the shameless spirit of speculation which was 
then rife, he returned without purchasing an acre. In vain were 
the broad rich lands of Kentucky spread in unrivaled beauty before 
him ; in vain did the cheapness of the price tempt him ; he valued 
his peace of mind too much to suspend it on the doubtful risks of 
inevitable litigation. 

During his stay Mr. Rice preached as opportunity offered, and 
his appearance was hailed with joy by the Presbyterian settlers, 
some of whom had known him personally and all by reputation. 
They had learned by their long destitution and silent Sabbaths to 
appreciate the value of the stated ministry ; and, like David in his 



1 8 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

exile, memory lingered with fond regret upon the lost pleasures 
of the sanctuary and the voice of joy and praise. Mr. Rice was 
warmly pressed to give them the benefit of his pastoral services ; 
but he hesitated to take so important a step on a mere verbal 
invitation. He promised, however, that if a written invitation 
were drawn up, signed by such only as were permanent settlers 
and really desirous of constituting themselves into a church, he 
would take it into consideration. . . He removed to Kentucky 
in October ; but owing to the impassable state of the roads, he 
was unable to travel, during the winter, beyond the neighborhood 
of Danville, and preached in private houses as he was invited. 
. . On the opening of spring (1784) Mr. Rice extended the 
sphere of his labors, and gathered three large congregations near 
Harrod's Station as a central point, Danville, Cane Run, and the 
Salt River settlement. Houses of worship were put up without 
delay, and the year following churches were regularly organized 
in them all. 1 

David Rice, the father of Kentucky Presbyterianism, 
born in Hanover County, Va. , December 20, 1733, ordained 
by Hanover Presbytery December, 1763, first taking 
charge of three congregations at the foot of the Blue Ridge, 
but finally confining his labors to the one at the Peaks of 
Otter, reached Kentucky in 1783. 2 For fifteen years Dan- 
ville was his home. His later life was spent in Green 
County, where he fell asleep, June 18, 18 16, in the eighty- 
third year of his age. 3 

As Makemie had drawn from the old country reinforce- 
ments to form the first Presbytery, and as Davies had 
assembled about him the little band that constituted ' ' old 
Hanover," so did David Rice attract from Virginia a nota- 
ble company of ministers. Adam Rankin came from 
Augusta County in 1784, and James Crawford arrived the 
same year. Terah Templin, ordained in 1785, though he 
had reached Kentucky three or four years earlier, had 

1 Davidson's " Kentucky," pp. 64-6. 

2 Bishop's " Memoir of Rice," pp. 13-64. This rare old book contains the only con- 
temporary accounts of several other Kentucky pioneers. 

3 A suitable monument to Rice was erected, 1892, by Kentucky Presbyterians in 
McDowell Park, Danville. 



SPREAD OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 19 



been a member of Father Rice's congregation at the Peaks 
of Otter. Thomas Craighead and Andrew McClure 
reenforced the struggling missionaries in 1786. 

On the 17th of October of that year, according to the 
direction of Synod, the Presbytery of Transylvania was 
organized. 1 

Tuesday, October 17, 1786. The Rev. David Rice, Adam Ran- 
kin, Andrew McClure, and James Crawford met in the Court 
House at Danville, on the day and year above written, by an 
appointment of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia ; which 
appointment Mr. Rice read from the extract of the proceedings of 
the Synod, dated May 17th, 1786, the substance of which is as 
follows : The Synod divided Abingdon Presbytery into two Pres- 
byteries, the one by the name of the Presbytery of Abingdon, the 
other by the name of the Presbytery of Transylvania, compre- 
hending the district of Kentucky from the settlements upon Cum- 
berland River, consisting of the Rev. David Rice, Thomas Craig- 
head, Adam Rankin, Andrew McClure, James Crawford, and 
appointed the Presbytery of Transylvania to meet at Danville, in 
the district of Kentucke (sic), on the third Tuesday of October, 
1786, the Rev. David Rice to be moderator or in his absence the 
senior minister present. Ubi post preces sederunt qui supra, 
except Rev. Thomas Craighead. 2 

Craighead's distant settlement was the occasion of his 
frequent absence. It will be observed that all the original 
members of the new Presbytery were from Virginia. 

Thus, from Scotland's sufferings under Charles, and 
from Scotland's scattered sons, through Makemie, a pio- 
neer of the American Presbyterian Church, through 
Samuel Davies of Hanover and Princeton, and through 
David Rice, Davies' s son in the gospel and the founder of 
the Kentucky Church, is to be traced the establishment of 
Transylvania Presbytery, which Indiana Presbyterians ven- 
erate as the mother of us all. 

1 This " backwoods " Presbytery had very indefinite boundaries. Besides Kentucky, 
Indiana, and the settlements on the Cumberland River in what is now the state of Tenn- 
essee, it also subsequently included the churches along the Miami in Ohio. " It had no 
definite limits in a southern direction." 

2 "Minutes Transylvania Presbytery," Vol. I., p. 1. 



CHAPTER II. 



The Settlement of Indiana. 

Not until nearly two hundred years after the discovery 
of America by Columbus, and fully half a century later 
than the landing of the Pilgrims from the Mayflower, is it 
probable that the first white man touched the present 
boundary of Indiana. As early as June, 1541, De Soto 
had reached the Mississippi with his Spanish explorers, but 
no other Europeans appear to have looked upon the 
Father of Waters until 1673, 1 when Marquette descended 
the river nearly to the Gulf. During the years 1665-73 
another French Jesuit was engaged in exploring the Lake 
Superior region and the territory near the southern ex- 
tremity of Lake Michigan, 2 in which labors he was most of 
the time assisted by Marquette and Claude Dablon. They 
must have found the portage from the St. Joseph to the 
Kankakee. 3 There is an Indian tradition that Catholic 
missionaries were at Kekionga (Fort Wayne) about this 

1 Cf. Parkman's " Discovery of the Great West," introduction, p. xx. 

2 " In the year 1665 the resolute ardor of Father Allouez, a Jesuit missionary, 
prompted him to undertake the hazardous experiment of executing his mission in these 
remote and unknown countries. Arrived at the Falls of St. Mary he threw himself 
boldly among the savages, relying on his powers of persuasion to win their confidence, 
and the purity of his motives to secure success. His hopes were not disappointed. He 
visited the tribes on the southern borders of Lake Superior and was everywhere re- 
ceived with kindness. Three years afterward he was joined by Marquette and Dablon, 
and during the five succeeding years these courageous missionaries explored the terri- 
tory between Lake Superior and the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, fulfilling 
their vocation as messengers of Christianity with a devotedness and self-sacrifice rarely 
surpassed, preaching to numerous tribes and subduing their wild hearts by gentleness of 
manners and by inculcating the mild precepts of the gospel. They likewise established 
the posts of Macinac, St. Mary's, and Green Bay, which soon became the first rallying 
points of civilization on the upper lakes." — Sparks's " La Salle," p. 2. 

a They " probably visited that part of Indiana which lies north of the river Kanka- 
kee." — Dillon's " History," p. 2. 

20 



THE SETTLEMENT OF INDIANA. 



21 



time. 1 In December, 1679, La Salle went down the Kan- 
kakee from its mouth, 2 and his own report to the governor- 
general of Canada leaves no doubt that on his perilous re- 
turn in the following year he passed through Fort Wayne. 
It was in 1682 that La Salle, passing down the Illinois into 
the Mississippi, discovered the mouth of that river on the 
9th of April, and in the name of Louis XIV. took posses- 
sion of the country. 3 The survivors of La Salle's second 
and fatal expedition, on the 19th of August, 1687, a few 
months after their leader's assassination, " came to the 
Mouth of the River call'd Houabache, said to come from 
the country of the Iroquois, toward New England." 
"That is a very fine River," proceeds the description, 
' ' its Water extraordinary clear, and the Current of it gen- 
tle. Our Indians offer' d up to it, by way of Sacrifice, some 
Tobacco and Beef Steaks, which they fixed on Forks, and 
left them on the Bank, to be disposed of as the River 
thought fit. " 4 The Hoiiabache was no doubt the Ohio, 

1 "England permitted the French to establish their influence along the banks of the 
Allegany to the Ohio. They had already quietly possessed themselves of the three 
other great avenues from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi ; for the route by way of 
the Fox and Wisconsin they had no opponents but in the Sacs and Foxes ; that by way 
of Chicago had been safely pursued since the days of Marquette ; and a report on Indian 
affairs, written by Logan in 1718, proves that they very early made use of the Miami of 
the lakes, and after crossing the carrying-place of about three leagues, floated down the 
shallow branch into the Wabash and the Ohio." — Bancroft's " History," Centenary 
Edition, Vol. II., p. 481. 

2 Sparks's "La Salle," pp. 45, 46. "On the 3d of December the party reembarked, 
thirty-three in all, in eight canoes, and ascended the chill current of the St. Joseph, 
bordered with dreary meadows and bare gray forests. When they approached the site 
of the present village of South Bend they looked anxiously along the shore on their 
right to find the portage or path leading to the headwaters of the Illinois." — Parkman's 
" Discovery of the Great West," p. 151. 

3 Father Hennepin, in his "Description de la Louisiane," gives an account of this 
tour; but according to Joutel (p. 185) " the Truth of his Relations is much contro- 
verted," and according to Bancroft (Vol. II., p. 366) he is "a boastful liar." See 
Charlevoix's " New France," Sparks's " La Salle," and Parkman's " Discovery of the 
Great West," for authentic details. 

4 " A Journal of the Last Voyage Performed by Monsr. de la Sale, to the Gulph of 
Mexico, to find out the Mouth of the Mississippi River." Written in French by Mon- 
sieur Joutel, a commander in that expedition, and translated from the edition just 
published at Paris. London, 1714, p. 163. (The original French edition appeared in 
Paris the previous year.) 



22 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



but Monsieur Joutel's narrative is accompanied by a map 
which with tolerable accuracy suggests the course of a 
tributary of that stream, the present river Wabash, which 
now at last was known to French explorers. 1 

The possession of the vast territory thus acquired by 
France was for many years only nominal. Early in the 
eighteenth century, however, the ambitious scheme was 
accomplished of connecting the French settlements in Can- 
ada with the northern lakes, the valley of the Mississippi, 
and the Gulf, by a line of military and trading-posts and 
Jesuit mission stations. It was this design that led to the 
first actual occupancy of Indiana by Europeans, a fort 
having been located on the Wabash in 1710 2 by Captain 
Morgan de Vincennes at the point which has since borne 
his name. Subsequently settlements were made by the 
French at Fort Ouiatenon (La Fayette) and at the 
Twightwee village (Fort Wayne), near the junction of the 
St. Joseph and St. Mary Rivers. 3 

The war which deprived the French of their possessions 
in Canada also secured to Great Britain the ''country of 
the Illinois," 4 and the posts on the Wabash were occupied 
by the latter power. The English dominion was soon dis- 

1 Joutel's description of the region near the mouth of the Houabache might certainly 
have been written for the Wabash country. "The country about was full of Hillocks," 
he says, " cover'd with Oaks and Wallnut-Trees, Abundance of Plum Trees, almost all 
the Plums red and pretty good, besides great Store of other Sorts of Fruits, whose 
Names we know not, and among them one shap'd like a middling Pear, with Stones in 
it as big as large Beans. When ripe it peels like a Peach, the Taste is indifferent good, 
but rather of the Sweetest." — " Journal of La Sale's Last Voyage," p. 164. 

2 This is the date fixed by Judge Law ( " Colonial History of Vincennes," p. 12), who 
finds a reference to "the Post," as already established, in a letter written by Father 
Marest, from Kaskaskias, November 9, 1712. (See " Lettres edifiant et curieuse," p. 
333-) Volney, who was at the Post in 1796 and fixed upon 1735 as the year of its estab- 
lishment, seems to have given the date of a subsequent arrival of French emigrants 
there. (Cf. Volney's " View of the Climate and Soil of the United States," London, 
1804, p. 373.) 

3 Not more than three or four hundred whites were settled within the present limits of 
Indiana when the French domination ceased. Cf. Dillon, p. 84. 

4 Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF INDIANA. 



23 



turbed, however, by the colonial struggle for independ- 
ence, and in the expedition of 1779 under the gallant 
Virginian, General George Rogers Clark, it was finally 
terminated. Post Vincennes was surrendered by Hamilton 
on the 24th of February. Upon the conclusion of the rev- 
olutionary contest the country northwest of the Ohio, 1 
which since Clark's conquest of it had been nominally 
under the jurisdiction of Virginia, was, by a formal deed of 
cession, transferred 2 to the United States. By the Ordi- 
nance of 1787 the Northwestern Territory was organized, 
including what now comprises the states of Indiana, 
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and much of Ohio. 3 From 
this vast tract Ohio was set off as a distinct territory May 
7, 1800, when the residue of the original Northwestern 
Territory became the territory of Indiana, with William 
Henry Harrison as its first governor. In 1805 Michigan 
was erected into a separate territory, and in 1809 Illinois 
was placed under its own government, leaving Indiana 
with its present limits. The state was constituted Decem- 
ber 11, 1816. 

Though the authority of the United States had been 
extended over the region northwest of the Ohio by the 
Ordinance of 1787, the Indians for years afterward re- 
mained substantially in possession of the country. St. 
Clair's expedition against the savages reached its disas- 
trous termination in 1791. The frontier was in a state of 

1 It is startling to observe how narrowly the United States escaped the loss of the 
whole Northwestern Territory, when negotiating the treaty of 1782. " Great Britain 
insisted on making the Ohio River a boundary of the United States. . . The perti- 
nacity with which the claim was insisted on induced Dr. Franklin to suggest to his col- 
leagues, Mr. Adams and Mr. Jay, whether it would not be better to yield that point 
than to fail in the main object, it being understood that the French government was 
favorable to the claim. Mr. Adams very promptly answered, No. . . Mr. Jay was 
equally determined and Dr. Franklin concurred." See Burnet's " Notes on the North- 
western Territory," p. 315, foot-note. Cf. Law's " Vincennes," p. 131. 

2 March 1, 1784. 

3 Major-General Arthur St. Clair, first governor of the Northwestern Territory, was 
appointed by Congress October 5. 1787. 



24 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERI ANISM. 



constant alarm until "Mad Anthony" Wayne's decisive 
victory of August 15, 1794, and his treaty with the Indians 
at Greenville, August 3, 1795. Thereafter, as confidence 
increased, settlers began to venture toward the rich bottom 
lands along the Wabash. But it must be remembered that 
as late as October 3, 181 8, when by the treaty at St. 
Mary' s the territory was yielded to the United States by 
the Delawares, Miamis, and Pottawottamies, the red men 
had still claimed the greater part of Indiana as their own. 
Even then they expressly reserved the right of occupying 
their former hunting grounds for three years longer. 1 It 
was not until a much more recent period that they entirely 
withdrew from the forests whose abundant game fed their 
hunger and whose thick shadows concealed their crimes. 2 
Transient fur-traders knew the region well and had been 
drawing immense profit from it for nearly a century before 
the quiet pursuit of agriculture was possible. 3 It was not 
to be expected that the most enticing reports of the fertility 
of Indiana's soil would be able to attract any large number 

1 " The Indians settled on White River, abont twelve miles above Indianapolis, be- 
tween the years 1790 and 1795, and built several towns a short distance above that. There 
now lives twelve miles above here a white woman who was with them when they first 
settled there, having been taken prisoner when Morgan's Station was overpowered, and 
all those who were in it either slaughtered or captured. She was nine years old when 
taken, and has lived among the Indians ever since, until the late purchase made by the 
United States brought the white people into the neighborhood." — Indianapolis Gazette, 
June 11, 1823. 

2 "One cold cloudy day in January, 1831, setting out to ride ten miles in the wilder- 
ness to acquaint a family with the appointment to form a church, I mistook the trail of 
an Indian hunting party, which led me to their encampment. Retracing my way by 
night I became bewildered in the woods and snow, and sat down by a burning log till 
morning, and at noon, twenty-four hours after leaving, emerged at Logansport." — 
" Retrospect after Thirty Years' Ministry at Logansport," by the Rev. Martin M. Post, 
D. D., p. 11. 

3 " The Miami villages, which stood at the head of the river Maumee, the Wea 
villages, which were situated about Ouiatneon on the Wabash River, and the Pianke- 
shaw villages, which stood on and about the site of Vincennes, were, it seems, regarded 
by the early French fur-traders as suitable places for the establishing of trading-posts. 
It is probable that before the close of the year 1719, temporary trading-posts were erected 
at the sites of Fort Wayne, Ouiatneon, and Vincennes. These points had, it is be- 
lieved, been often visited by traders before the year 1700." — Dillon, p. 54. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF INDIANA. 



25 



of immigrants with their families to the haunts of savages. 1 
In 1800 the white population of the territory, which still 
included Illinois and Michigan, was only four thousand 
eight hundred and seventy-five. Eight years afterward, 
within the present boundaries of Indiana, there were only 
about seventeen thousand inhabitants, a number which 
had increased to about sixty-four thousand when in 1816 
the territory became a state. 

Of the character of the original population of Indiana 
Volney gives a striking and evidently correct representa- 
tion. He reached Vincennes on the 2d of August, 1796. 
He says : 

The day after my arrival there, was a sitting of the judges of the 
district, to which I repaired to make my observations on the nat- 
ural and moral state of the inhabitants collectively. As soon as I 
entered I was struck at seeing the audience divided into two races 
of men, totally different in feature and in person. One had a fair 
or light brown hair, ruddy complexions, full faces, and a plump- 
ness of body that announced health and ease ; the other, very 
meager countenances, a sallow tawny skin, and the whole body as 
if emaciated with fasting, not to speak of their clothes, which suf- 
ficiently denoted their poverty. I presently discovered that the 
latter were the French settlers, who had been about sixty years in 
the place ; while the former were Americans, who cultivated the 
land they had bought only five or six years before. The French, 
three or four excepted, knew nothing of English, and almost all 
the Americans were nearly as ignorant of French, but as I had 
learned English enough in the course of a year to converse with 
them I had the advantage during my stay of hearing the stories 
of both parties. 2 

Still further to diversify this scene there were no doubt 
occasional representatives of Spain and Germany, and 
sometimes the Indians, taking possession of the little town, 

1 For a trustworthy and minute account of the perils of pioneer life see " Reminis- 
cences of Col. John Ketcham," by the Rev. T. M. Hopkins, Bloomington, 1866. For 
abstract of treaties by which Indian rights to lands lying within the present limits of 
Indiana have been extinguished see Dillon, p. 578. 

2 " Climate and Soil of the United States," pp. 369, 370. 



26 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. f 



made it as bizarre and miscellaneous as Cairo or Jerusalem. 
Volney adds : 

My stay at Fort Vincents gave me an opportunity of observing 
the savages, whom I found assembled to sell the produce of their 
red hunt. There were reckoned to be four or five hundred men, 
women, and children, of various nations or tribes, as the Weeaws, 
Payouries, Saukies, Pyankishaws, Miamis, etc., all living toward 
the head of the Wabash. It was the first time of my observing 
at leisure these people, already become rare on the east of the 
Alleghanies. Their appearance was to me a new and whimsical 
sight. Conceive bodies almost naked, embrowned by exposure 
to the sun and air, shining with grease and soot ; a head uncovered, 
hair coarse, black, sleek, straight, and smooth ; a face disguised 
with black, blue, and red paint, in round, square, and rhomboidal 
patches ; one nostril bored to admit a large ring of silver or cop- 
per ; earrings with three rows of drops reaching down to the 
shoulders and passing through holes that would admit a finger ; 
a little square apron before and another behind, both fastened by 
one string or ribband ; the legs and thighs sometimes naked, at 
others covered with long cloth spatterdashers ; socks of leather 
dried in the smoke ; on some occasions a shirt with short, wide 
sleeves, variegated or striped with blue and white, and flowing 
loose down the thighs, and over this a blanket or square piece of 
cloth, thrown over one shoulder and tied under the opposite arm 
or under the chin. On particular occasions, when they dress for 
war or for a feast, the hair is braided and interwoven with feathers, 
plants, flowers, and even bones ; the warriors wear round their 
waists broad rings of copper or silver, resembling our dog collars, 
and round the head a diadem formed of silver buckles and trinkets 
of glass ; in their hand they have their pipe or their knife or their 
tomahawk, and the little looking-glass, which every savage uses 
with more coquetry, to admire so many charms, than the most 
coquettish belle of Paris. 1 

No doubt this singular miscellany might also have been 
found, though upon a smaller pattern, at Fort Ouiatenon 
and at Kekionga, the aboriginal La Fayette and Fort 
Wayne. 

From this mixed population the savage element was 

i " Climate and Soil of the United States," pp. 392-5- 



THE SETTLEMENT OF INDIANA. 



2 7 



rapidly removed. The French, who had been masters of 
the soil, gradually yielded to the more hardy and energetic 
Americans, although Congress in 1792 had given 

four hundred acres of land to every one who paid the capita- 
tion, and a hundred more to every man who served in the militia. 
These would have been a fortune to an American family [con- 
tinues the impartial Frenchman whom we have quoted before], 
but to the French, hunters rather than farmers, they were only a 
transitory gift, which these ignorant and imprudent men sold to 
Americans for less than eight guineas the hundred acres, and even 
this small sum they were paid in clothes and other goods on 
which a profit of twenty or five and twenty per cent was laid. 
These lands, which were of excellent quality, sold as early as 1796 
at two dollars an acre and I will venture to say that they are now 
worth ten. Thus reduced for the most part to their gardens, or 
the land with which they could not dispense, the French settlers 
had nothing to live on but their fruit, vegetables, potatoes, Indian 
corn, and once now and then a little game. No wonder therefore 
they became lean as Arabs. 1 

As the French degenerated and receded the native im- 
migration perceptibly increased. Each of the various 
military expeditions, especially that of Wayne, had left 
behind the natural deposit of stragglers from the army. 
Older communities in the East began to think of such in- 
vestments of capital in the Indiana wilderness as at an 
earlier day had drawn George Washington, the young 
diplomatist of the "Ohio Land Company," far into the 
western woods.' 2 The vast " Illinois grants" made by the 
Virginia legislature in 1784 to General Clark and his vic- 
torious troops included most of Clark County, Ind., and 
now were alluring immigrants from beyond the Alle- 
ghanies. In 1796 Dufour explored the country along the 
Ohio, and finally secured from Congress three thousand 
acres of land for a Swiss colony, in what is now Switzerland 

1 " Climate and Soil of the United States," pp. 371, 372. 

2 See Irving's " Life of Washington)" Vol. I. 



28 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



County. It was, however, the hardy woodsmen just be- 
yond the southern border who most readily yielded to the 
attractions of the wild region, where the French had been 
supplanted and from which the savages were now being 
inevitably forced. At the opening of the present century 
the settlements were therefore strongly Kentuckian, and 
for a considerable period afterward it was chiefly by 
families from Kentucky, with a smaller number from Vir- 
ginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas, that the clearings 
were made and the primitive cabins builded. 

It will thus be seen that local chroniclers are not without 
justification for the pride they take in the early Indiana 
history. Judge Law writes as follows with especial refer- 
ence to Vincennes: 

I know of no portion of our country richer in historical incident. 
For surely a town which is one of the oldest on the continent ; one 
for the possession of which the greatest nations of the earth have 
contended — France, England, and the United States ; one located 
upon the beautiful stream which flows before it, the Ouabache, a 
river known and noted on the maps of the West long before the 
Ohio was known in the geography of the Mississippi valley, a 
river which for nearly a century bore upon its waters the bateaux 
of the three great powers above mentioned, bringing their armed 
warriors to occupy, and if possible to preserve it ; one which has 
seen within its garrison the mousquitaire of Louis XV., the 
grenadier of George III., the riflemen of Clark, and the regular 
troops of Harmar, St. Clair, and Harrison ; one above which has 
floated the "Fleur de Lis," the "Cross of St. George," and the 
glorious stars and stripes of our beloved country, is surely worthy 
of at least a passing notice by those who are now reaping the rich 
fruits of a conquest made under the most adverse and trying cir- 
cumstances and with a skill and bravery not unsurpassed in the 
most glorious triumphs of the Revolution. 1 

Of the Kekionga of the Miamis, the present Fort 
Wayne, almost a rival of Vincennes in antiquity, and fur- 
nishing, though for a somewhat humbler page, abundant 

i " Colonial History of Vincennes," pp. v. and vi. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF INDIANA. 



2 9 



materials for story and song, the records are less complete. 
The junction of the St. Mary and St. Joseph may claim, 
however, a place 

in the annals of that momentous contest between French and 
English civilization, between Romanism and Protestantism, which 
was waged with alternating success, and with short intervals of 
repose, for more than a hundred years, terminating soon after the 
fall of Quebec in the establishment of Anglo-Saxon supremacy by 
the treaty of 1763. The massacre of the little English garrison 
three fourths of a mile north from [Fort Wayne] on the 27th of 
May, 1763, during Pontiac's war, was accomplished through the 
treacherous influence of French traders over the Indians. This 
was among the last exertions of French power on this continent, 
east of the Mississippi. It was a subsiding wave on the outer 
circle of the long agitated waters. 1 

The population thus sifted and disciplined by provi- 
dence, and at last receiving its characteristic tendencies 
from the region immediately beyond the Ohio, was one 
that naturally appealed to the Presbyterian Church for 
sympathy and help. The response came heartily and 
promptly from Kentucky. 

1 " Historical Sketch of the First Presbyterian Church, Fort Wayne," by Judge Jesse 
L. Williams, pp. 3, 4. 



CHAPTER III. 



The First Missionaries, 
i 800-1 806. 

The first decided drift of population toward Indiana set 
in at a period especially favorable to the work of evangeli- 
zation and to the establishment of Presbyterian institu- 
tions. It was soon after the opening of the present 
century. Kentucky, upon the southern border, with a 
large Calvinistic element among her people and a consider- 
able number of ardent and able Presbyterian ministers, had 
been aroused to the highest pitch of religious enthusiasm 
by what is still described as "the Great Revival." They 
could not be indifferent to the spiritual condition of the 
settlers across the Ohio, among whom were their former 
neighbors and friends. The General Assembly was under 
a like impulse from on high, and was appointing itinerants 
for the regions beyond. 1 At the same time the great mis- 
sionary awakening began to move New England, and 
resulted in the formation of those home and foreign mis- 
sionary societies which have since exercised so vast a 
power. A little later, too, there was a movement west- 
ward from Ohio, which contributed valuable aid, partic- 
ularly to settlements near the eastern line of Indiana. 
From a variety of sources, therefore, and from widely 
separated regions, the gospel came, at this auspicious 
epoch, to what was now the farthest West. 

Naturally the first laborers were from Kentucky, the 
nearest neighbor, still under the stress of the revival. 
They were volunteers. As early as 1804, 5' an ^ 6 they 

l In 1805 the Assembly commissioned Thomas Williamson, and in 1S06 Samuel Holt, 
to Indiana. 

30 



THE FIRST MISSIONARIES. 



31 



made "short missionary excursions" to the neighborhood 
of Vincennes. 1 They were members of Transylvania Pres- 
bytery — Rannels, Robertson, McGready, and Cleland. 

Samuel Rannels was born December 10, 1765, in 
Hampshire County, Va. , where he remained with his 
father until he was nearly twenty years of age. He grad- 
uated, March, 1792, at Dickinson College, then under its 
able president, the Rev. Dr. Charles Nisbet. He received 
licensure from the Presbytery of Lexington, Va. , in 1794. 
In the following spring he came to Kentucky, having 
a call to the united congregations of Paris and Stoner- 
mouth, which he accepted. Ordained in 1796 he returned 
to Virginia and was united in marriage, May 10th of the 
same year, with Margaret Gilkison. Coming to Kentucky 
he labored in the field to which he had been called for 
more than twenty years, the relation being terminated by 
his death, March 24, 1817. 

Mr. Rannels was about six feet in height and well pro- 
portioned. He was of an amiable disposition and agree- 
able manners. Solemn and affectionate in the discharge 
of his office, he was orderly and punctual in all his trans- 
actions. His pulpit exercises were of various degrees of 
excellence, sometimes far above mediocrity, but on other 
occasions noticeably deficient in power. In the great re- 
ligious excitement prevailing in Kentucky in 1802-3, and 
which was attended with much irregularity, finally pro- 
ducing heresy and schism, Mr. Rannels was among the 
first and foremost to raise a note of warning. It was then 
that he gave some of the happiest illustrations of his im- 
pressive pulpit abilities. To him and a few others in those 
perilous times, the church in Kentucky, particularly the 
Presbyterian body, owed its defense and support so far as 
human agency was concerned. 2 He was one of the first of 

1 Dickey's " Brief History," pp. n, 12. 

2 Bishop's " Memoir of Rice," pp. 166-8. Davidson's " Kentucky," p. 115. 



32 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



the Kentucky ministers to cross the Ohio into Indiana. 

Samuel B. Robertson received ordination in 1801 and 
became pastor of the congregations of Cane Run and New 
Providence, where he continued until 181 1, when he re- 
moved to Columbia, Adair County. Subsequently he was 
pastor of Lebanon church for four years. ' ' He lived to a 
good old age and, having fallen upon sleep, he chose to be 
buried in the graveyard of this church by the side of the 
wife of his youth." 1 Admired as a preacher, 2 though not 
a man of commanding abilities, his name is prominent in 
the Indiana history, as by him was effected the organization 
of the first church. 

James McGready not infrequently repeated his early 
excursions to Indiana. Nature had commissioned him as 
an exhorter, and with the populace he was a great favorite. 
On special occasions, during the ten years previous to 1817, 
the pastor at Vincennes often summoned him to his aid. 
His tremendous oratory at "the Presbyterian Stand" in 
the woods, addressed to thousands of people attracted from 
an incredible distance, was as stern and faithful as the ' ' cry- 
ing in the wilderness " of Judaea. A large man, inclined to 
corpulency, with a voice of thunder, the " hideousness " 3 
of his face seemed only to render his habitual denunciations 
of sin more terrible. He was born of Scotch-Irish parents, 
on the Monongahela, in western Pennsylvania, in 1763, 
but while he was still a child the family removed to North 
Carolina, near the present Greensboro. In 1783 he was 
converted, was soon persuaded of his call to preach the 
gospel, and after a course of study in Dr. McMillan's 
school, subsequently known as Cannonsburg College, he 

1 Hogue's " Historical Discourse preached in the Presbyterian Church, Lebanon, 
Ky.," 1857, p. 13. 

2 See " Life of Cleland," p. 127. 

a Davidson's " Kentucky," p. 132. 



THE FIRST MISSIONARIES. 



33 



received licensure from Redstone Presbytery. Returning 
to North Carolina, at a funeral, in compliment to the young 
minister he was invited to ask a blessing preparatory to 
the usual unstinted dispensation of whisky on such occa- 
sions. His prompt refusal to "insult God by asking a 
blessing on what was wrong" 1 produced great excitement, 
and the pungency of his subsequent preaching resulted in 
a remarkable revival which extended through Guilford and 
Orange Counties — the second general revival in North Car- 
olina after the War of the Revolution. 

This revival was attended with no unusual appearances or ex- 
ercises. The opposition to the close and practical preaching and 
renewed discipline never broke out into violence but in one case. 
At Stony Creek there were some families of wealth and influence 
that had become loose in their religious views and morals during 
the disturbance of the war and the presence of the armies ; these 
opposed Mr. McGready's course and preaching, and proceeded 
from one step of opposition to another, till their dislike exceeded 
all bounds. Some of these, during one of their nights of revelry, 
made a bonfire of the pulpit, near the church, and left in the clerk's 
seat a letter written with blood, warning him that unless he de- 
sisted from his way of preaching, their vengeance would not be 
satisfied with the destruction of the pulpit, and his person would 
not be inviolate. McGready, as might have been expected, not in 
the least intimidated by the burning of the pulpit or the letter, con- 
tinued to preach as usual, 2 and the opposition, confined to a few, 
died away. In a few years the dissipation of these families became 
the ruin of their character and property, and after the lapse of a 
short period not a descendant of theirs could be found in the con- 
gregation. 3 

In 1796 McGready removed to the southwestern part of 

1 Foote's " Sketches of North Carolina," pp. 371,372. Later in life, when suffering 
from exposure, he unfortunately indulged too freely in a needed stimulant, and was so 
ashamed and penitent that he ever afterward observed that day of the month as a day of 
fasting and prayer. See Davidson, pp. 260, 261. 

2 The following Sunday he gave out the psalm beginning " How are the seats of 
worship broke." 

3 Foote's " Sketches of North Carolina," p. 375. 



34 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Kentucky, and assumed charge of the Gasper, Muddy, and 
Red River congregations. His fearless proclamation of 
the law produced here the same results that had been wit- 
nessed in North Carolina, the revival of 1800 having its 
commencement under his ministry. Its earliest manifesta- 
tions are described by McGready himself. 

In July the sacrament was administered in Gasper River con- 
gregation. Here multitudes crowded from all parts of the country 
to see a strange work, from the distance of forty, fifty, and even a 
hundred miles ; whole families came in their wagons ; between 
twenty and thirty wagons were brought to the place, loaded with 
people and their provisions, in order to encamp at the meeting- 
house. On Friday nothing more appeared during the day than a 
decent solemnity. On Saturday matters continued in the same 
way until in the evening. Two pious women were sitting together 
conversing about their exercises ; which conversation seemed to 
affect some of the bystanders ; instantly the divine flame spread 
through the whole multitude. Presently you might have seen sin- 
ners lying powerless in every part of the house, praying and crying 
for mercy. Ministers and private Christians were kept busy dur- 
ing the night conversing with the distressed. This night a goodly 
number of awakened souls were delivered by sweet believing 
views of the glory, fulness, and sufficiency of Christ to save to the 
uttermost. Amongst these were some little children, a striking 
proof of the religion of Jesus. 1 

The subsequent extravagances of this period found in 
McGready a sincere and powerful apologist, and he was 
finally involved in the controversies out of which grew the 
Cumberland church. He was, however, too clear in his 
theological views, too thoroughly in sympathy with Pres- 
byterian forms, and too strongly attached to the old 
church, to be contented in the work of schism. He went 
far enough to receive censure, but made suitable acknowl- 
edgments and was restored to his former ecclesiastical 
standing. The Cumberland church, however, still revere 

1 McGready's " Posthumous Works," pp. ix., x. 



THE FIRST MISSIONARIES. 



35 



him as their founder, 1 and after his decease, which occurred 
in Henderson County in 1817, most of his adherents united 
with that body. 

Too eccentric and excitable to be safe in his leadership, 
no doubt the evangelical preaching of McGready was most 
useful to the feeble Indiana church. It is likely that many 
of the discourses which constitute the volume of his 
" Posthumous Works " were heard by the immense audi- 
ences attracted by his fame to the sacramental meetings 
along the Wabash and the Ohio. Their titles sufficiently 
suggest their vividness and force — " The Blinding Policies 
of Satan," " The Sinner's Guide to Hell," " The Hope of 
the Hypocrite," "The Deceitfulness of the Human 
Heart," " The Doom of the Impenitent." In a letter ad- 
dressed to Samuel J. Mills, during his tour of observation 
in the West, McGready writes, April 27, 18 15, from Red 
Banks, Henderson County, Ky. : 

If some religious tracts were in my possession showing the 
vanity and soul-destroying nature of giddy balls and vain amuse- 
ments, some treating of the importance of secret prayer, some of 
the danger of quenching conviction, some giving an account of 
extraordinary conversions — such, I think, I could distribute to 
advantage. 2 

Everything this mighty backwoodsman said and did showed 
the singleness, the intensity, and the sagacity of his aim. 

To those who at this period came from Kentucky upon 
an occasional preaching tour must be added the name of 
James Kemper. He had been from 1791 to 1796 the first 
settled minister 3 of the First Church, Cincinnati, constitu- 

1 Smith's " History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church " contains full notices of 
his character and career. 

2 " Report of Smith and Mills's Tour," p. 52. 

3 Kemper came from Virginia to Tennessee as early as 1783, and thence to Kentucky 
in 1785. He was licensed to preach, after four years' study under David Rice, being 
already the father of ten children. He was the first minister ordained north of the 
Ohio, and preached the first sermon at the first meeting of the first Presbytery that con- 
vened in Ohio, it being his own ordination sermon. Born in Fauquier County, Va., 
November 23, 1753, married July 16, 1772, to Judith Hathaway, he died August 20, 



56 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



ted by " Father Rice," but he afterward returned to Ken- 
tucky. As early as 1804, an d for several years subse- 
quently, he visited Rising Sun, Samuel Fulton, a worthy 
pioneer, opening his cabin for the religious services which 
Mr. Kemper conducted. 1 

Such irregular and infrequent efforts as have been de- 
scribed could effect but little however. There was need 
of systematic ecclesiastical supervision, and Transylvania 
Presbytery may claim the honor of making the earliest 
recorded appointment of missionaries to Indiana. At 
Danville, April 14, 1803, it was resolved that Archibald 
Cameron supply "in the Illinois grant and at Post Vin- 
cennes settlements," 2 James Vance being associated with 
him ; and although neither performed the duty assigned, 
their reasons for failure being presented and sustained at 
Hardin's Creek, October 5, 1803, 3 as Archibald Cameron 
is a name well known in Indiana, whither subsequently he 
came more than once to preach, we may pause a moment 
to look at this Kentucky John the Baptist, the forerunner 
of the whole vast army of missionaries since commissioned 
to the same field. A native of Scotland, brought by his 
parents to America when a child, he became a thorough 
mathematician and classical scholar, studied theology 
under Father Rice, after seven years' service at Simpson's 
Creek took charge in 1803 of the Shelbyville and Mul- 
berry churches, and remained with them until his death, 
which occurred in 1836. He was an old bachelor, blunt in 
his manners, independent as a Highland chief, shrewd, 
satirical, and orthodox to a fault. 4 "He often preached 

1834, his widow following him March i, 1846. Fifteen children were born to them. 
Cf. " Presbyterianism North of the Ohio," a semi-centennial discourse delivered before 
the Presbytery of Cincinnati, April 9, 1872, by the Rev. Joseph G. Monfort, D.D. 

1 Goodrich and Tuttle's " History of Indiana,*' p. 491. 

2 " Minutes Transylvania Presbytery," Vol. II., p. 72. 

3 " Minutes Transylvania Presbytery," Vol. II., p. 75. 

4 His orthodoxy, at least on one occasion, was the cause of some embarrassment to 
him. Dr. Beatty was fond of relating that in the Assembly of 1S35, when the irregulari- 



THE FIRST MISSIONARIES. 



37 



three full hours, and when he got waked up on baptism 
could preach six hours." In his later years, helpless from 
paralysis, surrounded but often neglected by his blacks, 
contented with corn and bacon, on a small plantation near 
Shelbyville he maintained a gruff baronial hospitality. He 
published a number of able pamphlets 1 and in the Cumber- 
land controversy was a prominent and useful conservative. 

' ' Supplications for supplies ' ' were now frequently sub- 
mitted to Transylvania Presbytery. At Danville, October 
17, 1804, "a petition was received from Post Vincennes 
praying for supplies." 2 April 9, 1805, "a petition from a 
number of inhabitants of Knox County, Indiana territory, 
praying for supplies was presented and read. ' ' Two days 
later ' ' Mr. Cleland was appointed to supply in Indiana 
territory as much of his time as he can with con- 
veniency." 3 He discharged the duty, and thus became 
the first official delegate who labored upon this field. If 
his own qualities had been less captivating, and his service 
of the church in Indiana less important, the lending of a 
son for so many years to that service would still require us 
to review his career and character. 

Thomas Cleland was for many years the most popu- 

ties in the Western Reserve were under review, and when he himself had to make his 
maiden speech in the Assembly, Cameron, jumping upon a seat, delivered a violent 
philippic against the disorders in the region referred to. Upon the Assembly's adjourn- 
ment, Cameron, returning home, was overtaken by the Sabbath at Cleveland, and called 
upon young Mr. Aiken, the pastor there, expecting to be invited to preach. But Aiken, 
who had been at the Assembly and had heard Cameron's speech, slyly suggested that 
upon the " Reserve " they had had so much trouble with impostors that they were com- 
pelled to refuse admission into their pulpits to ministers without written credentials. So 
the doughty Kentuckian had to listen patiently next day to two good " New-school " 
sermons. See also Sprague's " Annals," Vol. IV., pp. 168-72. 

1 Among these are: "The Faithful Steward, being an impartial investigation of the 
subject: is the church justifiable in baptizing adults without evidence of their faith 
and repentance, and in baptizing the children of any parents who do not likewise give 
evidence of being the subjects of faith and repentance," Louisville, 1806 ; and " A reply 
to some questions on Divine Predestination, with some remarks on a pamphlet entitled, 
' The Trial of Cain,' " Shelbyville, 1822. 

2 " Minutes Transylvania Presbytery," Vol. II., p. 103. 

3 " Minutes Transylvania Presbytery," Vol. II., p. ux. 



38 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

lar Presbyterian preacher in Kentucky. Born in Fairfax 
County, Va., May 22, 1778, removed in childhood to 
Maryland, and afterward in 1789 to Kentucky, educated 
at the Kentucky Academy and at Transylvania University, 
though he had chosen the law for a profession he was 
seized upon by the Presbytery and licensed April 14, 1803. 
He had previously made effective addresses at religious 
meetings, crowds being easily drawn together when "it 
was noised abroad that little Tommy Cleland had com- 
menced preaching." His success made such an impres- 
sion that the Presbytery soon interpreted it as a manifest 
call to the ministry. The night of his marriage to a 
daughter of Captain John Armstrong Presbytery convened 
in Mr. Armstrong's house. Then and there he was exam- 
ined, as he supposed with a view of giving him license to 
exhort, but notwithstanding his protestations they enrolled 
his name as a candidate for the ministry. He urged his 
new domestic responsibilities, his limited education, his 
want of theological books and teachers. It was quite 
impossible, he argued, that he should now think of the 
ministry as a profession. The hour of midnight drew on. 
Alexander Cameron, bachelor though he was, said, "Let 
the young man alone. His wedding day is not the time 
to consider such a call." But, as the captive declares in 
his autobiography, he was ' ' completely taken in by the 
Presbytery," which "assigned me as a part of trial for its 
next spring meeting a sermon from the text, ' Woe is me 
if I preach not the gospel. ' " 1 Thus entrapped Cleland 
soon made good proof of his ministry, becoming an 
acknowledged leader in the work so well begun by the 
older generation under Father Rice. He was settled first 
in Washington, and afterward at New Providence in Mer- 
cer County, where he remained until his life was gently 
closed, January 31, 1858. 

l " Life of Cleland," p. 70. 



THE FIRST MISSIONARIES. 



39 



The Presbytery could have sent no better man to the 
wilderness. Of small stature, but lithe and hardy ; plain 
in dress and manners ; prudent and sensible ; not without 
wit ; a sturdy controversialist though loving peace ; a dili- 
gent writer for the press ; in the pulpit full of pathos and of 
Scripture ; a tireless itinerant and revivalist, his selection 
was an admirable one, and the service required just at the 
beginning of his public career must have proven a valuable 
experience to himself. Of his tour to Vincennes we have 
an account from his own pen : 

Transylvania Presbytery had no definite limits in a southern 
direction. It also included Indiana, etc., on the north. In the 
spring of 1805 I was directed to visit Vincennes and the adjoining 
regions. It was an uninhabited route I had to go. A small wilder- 
ness trace, with only one residence on the way, in the most destitute 
part of the way, to entertain me during the night. Here was my 
poor animal tied to a tree, fed with the grain packed in a wallet 
from Louisville, and myself stretched on the puncheon floor of a 
small cabin, for the night's rest. All passed off, however, without 
any detriment or discomfort. The next evening made up for all 
previous privations. I was welcomed and agreeably entertained 
at the governor's palace during my stay at Vincennes. The late 
William H. Harrison, then a young man, with a Presbyterian wife, 
was governor of the Indiana territory, as it then was. He had 
recently held a treaty with a certain tribe of Indians, who assem- 
bled at Vincennes. 

The first sermon I preached, and it was the first ever preached 
in the place, at least by a Presbyterian minister, was in the council- 
house, but a short time before occupied by the sons of the forest. 
I preached also in a settlement twenty miles up the Wabash, where 
were a few Presbyterian families, chiefly from Shelby County, 
Ky. They were so anxious to have me settle among them 
that they proffered to send all the way to Kentucky to remove my 
family, without any trouble or expense to myself, besides offering 
me a generous support. I somehow or other, from the beginning 
of domestic life, had my mind determined on residing in a free 
state, and here was an inviting prospect. I was indeed anxious to 
comply with their wishes. But besides the heavy contest for my 
land with old Colonel Shelby, now in process of litigation, the 



4-0 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Lord was showing me special favor with my people at home by an 
unusual blessing upon my labors. But still they were not willing 
to give the matter up, and that we might have a little more time 
to reflect and inquire of the Lord what was his will and pleasure 
concerning the wished-for change in my field of labor, I engaged 
to make them a returned visit the next year. I did return at the 
time appointed. The prospect seemed brighter than before. I 
was welcomed on all sides, by men of the world as well as 
by men of the church. And what was more I was welcomed 
by some poor sinners too, whom the Lord gave me as souls 
for my hire. And though I was prevented from settling among 
them, for the reason already specified, yet for a number of years 
afterward I received messages from those who claimed me as 
their spiritual father ; and for aught that I know some remain 
there till the present day. 1 

The following year (1806) 2 this mission of CI eland bore 
fruit in the establishment of the first Presbyterian church 
in Indiana. Dickey supposes it to have been the earliest 
Protestant organization in the territory, but this is perhaps 
an error. The Baptists seem rightly to claim precedence. 
A competent authority says : 

It was not until the year 1798 that the first Protestant congrega- 
tion was organized in Indiana territory. This was a Regular Bap- 
tist church, composed of four members and established on the 
Philadelphia confession of faith. The organization was effected a 

1 " Life of Cleland," pp. 87-9. 

2 This has been questioned, an effort having been made to substitute 1802 as the 
correct date. But the following facts are conclusive in the matter •' (1) The later date 
rests on the authority of Dickey, who wrote in 1828 and was familiar with the whole 
history; (2) Cleland distinctly says that in 1805 he preached the first Presbyterian 
sermon in Vincennes (" Life of Cleland," p. 88); (3) A few aged persons still survive 
who came to Vincennes several years subsequent to 1802, but remember being present at 
the organization of the " Indiana" church; (4) Accounts agree that Scott came to Vin- 
cennes to preach the year after the organization ; but he did not receive licensure until 
December, 1803, and was installed pastor of the Mt. Pleasant church in Kentucky 
in 1805. The records of West Lexington Presbytery report him absent, October, 
1807, on a mission, the Assembly having appointed him ("Minutes," 1806) to "be 
a missionary for three months in the Indiana territory and especially at Vincennes " : 
(5) Samuel J. Mills, in a letter dated January 20, 1815, speaks of Scott's "valiantly 
maintaining his post for six years past." After his tour in 1807 he had gone back to 
Kentucky for a time. 



THE FIRST MISSIONARIES. 



41 



few miles northeast of the Littell settlement, 1 but the first house of 
worship was subsequently erected on the east bank of Silver 
Creek, near Mr. Littell's farm, where it became widely known as 
the Regular Baptist church at Silver Creek. There it still stands, 
the oldest Protestant church in the state. 2 

The Methodists came only a little later. The Rev. 
George K. Hester says : 

It is believed that the first society formed in the state was 
organized at Father Robertson's. 3 This must have been in 
the spring of 1803. Then came McGuice and Sullivan. In 1805 
Peter Cartwright 4 preached in " the Grant," and in the fall of 1805 
Asa Shinn and Moses Ashworth preached there. In 1807 the 
work on this side of the river was organized into Silver Creek cir- 
cuit with Moses Ashworth for their preacher. 5 

The "Church of Indiana," 6 the oldest Presbyterian 
society in the state, was organized by the Rev. Samuel B. 
Robertson, in 1806, the service being held in the barn of 
Colonel Small, about two miles east of Vincennes. 
Though not large, the congregation was composed of ex- 
cellent material. William Henry Harrison, . the young 
governor, had married a Presbyterian wife, and was him- 
self a steadfast friend of the society. Its members were, 
however, chiefly from Kentucky. Well instructed at 
home, by the occasional visits of Rannels, McGready, 
Robertson, and Cleland their duty to the faith of their 

1 Near Charlestown, Clark County. 

2 " Pioneer Preachers of Indiana," by Madison Evans, p. 43. 

3 Five miles north of Charlestown. "The first Methodist was Nathan Robertson, who 
moved from Kentucky to Charlestown in 1799." — Stevens's " History of Methodism," 
Vol. IV., pp. 152, 153. 

4 Cartwright seems to have considered the society he organized in 1808, in the Busroe 
settlement, the first among the Methodists. See his "Autobiography," p. 55. 

5 See Holliday's " Methodism in Indiana," pp. 37, 38. 

6 This society was divided into " Upper " and " Lower " Indiana churches by Vin- 
cennes Presbytery, April 6, 1842. The former retains its original designation. The 
latter became the "Indiana" church by act of Presbytery, April 15, 1847. The two 
fragments have equal claims to antiquity. A third division of the membership of the 
original society became the nucleus of the church which was organized in the town of 
Vincennes in 1832. 



42 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



fathers had been kept in mind, and they were now to be 
greatly favored in securing a pastor whom they could love 
and trust, and for many years retain in a most successful 
service. 

Samuel Thornton Scott, to whom belongs the dis- 
tinction of having first settled as a pastor within the terri- 
tory, came to the " Indiana" church in 1807. His early 
years were spent in Woodford County, Ky. , near Lexing- 
ton, where he married Miss Margaret Dunlap. He pur- 
sued a literary course at Transylvania Academy and 
studied divinity with Dr. James Blythe. Before the com- 
pletion of his education he came to Vincennes as a teacher. 
To this work he was probably summoned by former ac- 
quaintances, now removed to the neighborhood from 
Kentucky — the Dennisons from near Lexington and the 
Buckanans from Gallatin County. 1 He thus became, if we 
except the French priests, one of the first of the great army 
of Indiana schoolmasters. December 31, 1803, he received 
licensure from West Lexington Presbytery, and having 
preached at various places within its bounds by Presby- 
terial appointment, he was ordained and installed pastor of 
Mount Pleasant church December 28, 1805. At a meet- 
ing of his Presbytery in October, 1807, he is reported 
absent upon a missionary tour to Knox County, Ind., 
whither the Assembly of 1806 had commissioned him for 
three months. This was probably the occasion upon 
which, while fording the west fork of White River, he lost 
his hat and his shoe, and was restored to a clerical and 
presentable condition by General Harrison, to whom he 
had letters of introduction. Returning home Mr. Scott at 
once arranged his affairs for a permanent removal to In- 
diana. He was dismissed from the pastorate of the 
Mount Pleasant church October 10, 1808, and soon after 

1 " Life and Times of Stephen Bliss," by S. C. Baldridge, p. 71. 



THE FIRST MISSIONARIES. 



43 



began the twenty years of continuous service in Knox 
County, which only his death, December 30, 1827, ter- 
minated. 

Mr. Scott long held his post in the wilderness alone, 
unsupported except by brethren whom on special occa- 
sions he called from Kentucky. He " had erected a rude 
platform in the woods, and supplied a plentiful amount of 
rustic benches, and thither his fervent spirit had gathered 
the people for religious worship. Here in this sequestered 
sylvan sanctuary God had been pleased to show his faithful 
servant his glory in times of spiritual blessings, and the 
whole romantic scene was sacred. ' ' 1 This outdoor pulpit 
was known as "the Presbyterian Stand." Here it was 
that McGready sometimes addressed and overpowered 
great congregations. 2 Subsequently, under the pastor's 
diligent labors, there were three preaching stations in his 
parish, and no doubt the toil imposed by his isolation in so 
wide a field shortened his days. 

This patriarch of Indiana pastors was of a very social 
temperament, a fine talker, and a good preacher. With 
old and young he was always a favorite. He diligently 
catechized the children, meeting them on Saturdays at pri- 
vate houses. 3 So scrupulous was he in observing the 
Sabbath that he once declined a carefully-dressed haunch 
of venison, prepared for him by a parishioner who had had 
a Sunday hunt, and thereby secured the man's life-long 
enmity. He was fond of "log-rollings" and " corn- 
huskings," where, if occasion permitted, he was sure to 
perpetrate some innocent practical joke. By one 4 whom 

1 " Life and Times of Stephen Bliss," p. 75. 

2 The records indicate that meetings of the session previous to 18 15 were held at 
"the Stand." 

3 At one of these appointments he was late. On his arrival he explained that he had 
sent his only hat to Vincennes to be pressed, and forgetting it until the hour of starting, 
had been compelled to despatch a messenger to a colored man, his nearest neighbor, to 
borrow a hat. 

4 The Rev. John Crozier. 



44 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



in 1825 he baptized at Paris, 111., he is remembered as a 
man of medium height, of rather full habit, about fifty 
years of age, and wearing goggles. 

Mr. Scott's family consisted of two sons and two daugh- 
ters, Sallie Anne, Alexander Dunlap, Nancy Anne, and 
Samuel Thornton. The younger daughter became the 
wife of her father's successor, the Rev. Samuel R. Alexan- 
der. She died at the homestead, two and one half miles 
northeast of Vincennes, the estate having passed into the 
possession of her husband. 1 

l The burning of the old parsonage destroyed many valuable MSS., with which have 
perished authentic details of Mr. Scott's career and of the local history. Mr. Alexander 
coming to the parish in 1828, the year after the death of Scott, continued to cultivate 
either the whole or a portion of the field for more than thirty years and until age com- 
pelled his retirement. His death occurred February 17, 1884. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Hindrances and Disorders Incident to War. 
i 807-1814. 

Naturally the first foundations were laid by the Pres- 
byterians in the midst of the oldest community in the 
territory, comprising as it did among its prominent citizens 
representatives of families beyond the southern border 
which had been conspicuous for their attachment to the 
church. It will, however, be remembered that while the 
French occupancy of Vincennes long preceded any other 
settlement by the whites on the northern bank of the Ohio, 
there was at a very early day a considerable population 
upon the "Clark grants," comprising nearly all of Clark 
County. There, not far from Charlestown, a second little 
band of Presbyterians was gathered in 1807. 1 It was 
called the "Palmyra" church, in accordance with what 
seems to have been a decided taste for antiquities in that 
region, where Bethlehem, Memphis, and Utica still hold 
their place amidst such modern and homely names as 
Muddy Fork and Bennetsville. This organization, which 
soon became extinct and was merged in the later society at 
Charlestown, was effected by the Rev. James Vance, who 
had been associated with Cameron in the previous unful- 
filled commission to Indiana from Transylvania Presbytery. 
Early in 1807 Samuel B. Robertson was again appointed 
by the Presbytery "to attend in Knox County, Indiana 
territory, in order to answer the prayer of a petition from 
that place." 2 In 1809 James H. Dickey, bearing a name 

1 Dickey's " Brief History/' p. 4. 

2 " Minutes Transylvania Presbytery," Vol. III., p. 184. 

45 



4 6 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



which his kinsman was by and by to render famous in the 
annals of the Indiana church, made a hasty missionary tour 
to the territory, crossing the border from Kentucky, the 
Egypt whose granaries then and for years afterward gener- 
ously supplied the famine of the Word. 

From a more distant region, however, a stalwart young 
minister came in 1810, and contrary to his design was de- 
tained at Lawrenceburgh. He was the second Presbyterian 
clergyman who settled within the state, and on that account, 
as well as for his ability and zeal, deserves a recognition 
which he has hitherto failed to receive. 1 

Samuel Baldridge, the third of twelve children of 
Scotch-Irish parents, John and Margaret (Ferrel) Bald- 
ridge, was born near Guilford Court House, N. C. , March 
21, 1780. When he was about fourteen years of age the 
family removed to Cook County, Tenn. , and settled on the 
French Broad River. As he approached manhood his 
brother James, the eldest of the children, in company with 
him built a saw and grist-mill on Clear Creek, an affluent 
of the French Broad. At this period occurred his conver- 
sion. Thereupon making known a desire to connect him- 
self with the Presbyterian Church, his father, a determined 
adherent of the Covenanters, interposed, and assured his 
son that such a step should disinherit him. As Samuel 
persisted in following his convictions of duty the threat was 
executed. 

In 1778 Samuel Doak, a man of strong faith and ardent 
zeal, having graduated at Princeton three years before, 
settled on the Holston, in the midst of a few families of 
Scotch-Irish emigrants from Virginia, organized a church, 
and in a log building on his farm opened a school. 
Thither, about thirty miles from home, the young convert 
went, and in due time graduated from Dr. Doak's 

1 There is no mention even of his name by Dickey, Johnston, or the other local 
historians. See, however, Monfort's " Presbyterianism North of the Ohio,"' pp. S, 10. 



HINDRANCES INCIDENT TO WAR. 



47 



academy, already chartered and known as "Washington 
College." 1 On the first Tuesday in September, 1805, 
being a candidate under the care of Abingdon Presbytery, 
he and two others, Reuben White and Alexander M. 
Nelson, were 1 ' directed to turn their attention to the study 
of divinity under the inspection of some member or mem- 
bers of Presbytery and they were allowed to prepare 
and deliver exhortations." 2 January 23, 1806, he married 
Lucinda Doak, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Doak, a lady of 
attractive person and of unusual intelligence and piety. 
He was licensed at Salem church, Washington County, the 
pastoral charge of his father-in-law, on the 5th of October, 
1807, and on the eleventh of the subsequent October was 
ordained and installed pastor of the Rock Spring and 
Glade Spring congregations. 

Meanwhile his father had removed, in 1808, to Ohio, 
and Mr. Baldridge, appointed commissioner to the General 
Assembly in 1809, visited him at Hamilton. The beauty 
and fertility of the region, together with his growing 
aversion to slavery, induced the young man to resign his 
pastorate in Tennessee and request a dismission to the 
Presbytery of Washington, Synod of Kentucky. With 
his wife and two children he came across the great wilder- 
ness of Tennessee and Kentucky, transporting all the 
household effects in wagons. They reached Lawrence- 
burgh, Ind., in safety in the summer of 1810, and were 
welcomed there by old friends from east Tennessee. 3 Mr. 

1 The Rev. Arthur T. Rankin, long a Presbyterian "bishop" in Decatur County, 
whose father's "little red house " at Ripley, Ohio, was a famous station on the " under- 
ground railroad," and whose mother was a Doak, well remembers the coming of his 
uncle Baldridge, on his bob-tail bay horse, to visit at the Ripley parsonage. He says 
that at the Doak Academy ambition was stimulated to the utmost by personal 
rivalry. The man who could first hasten through the curriculum was the first to receive 
his degree. At one time there was an eager strife for precedence between John Rankin 
and Samuel G. Lowry, whose name appears later in the Indiana history. By the hardest 
work the former got through first and became for a time the latter's tutor. 

2 " Minutes Abingdon Presbytery." 

3 Mr. Chambers had been a ruling elder there. 



48 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Baldridge was induced to remain in the settlement. It 
was missionary ground. The fertile valleys of the Ohio 
and Whitewater were attracting a large and enterprising 
population, but there were neither church organizations 
nor houses of worship. In order to secure a maintenance 
the missionary procured a large dwelling and opened an 
English classical school, like his former preceptor accus- 
toming his pupils, during the recitations and at the table, 
to converse in Latin. Before he had connected himself 
with Washington Presbytery that Presbytery was divided, 
October n, 1810, and Joshua L. Wilson, Matthew G. 
Wallace, William Robinson, James Welch, and himself 
were constituted into the Presbytery of Miami. He was 
appointed to supply statedly the vacancies at Lawrence- 
burgh and Whitewater. In this work he continued for two 
years, maintaining his school and preaching in private 
houses and under the forest's roof as he found oppor- 
tunity. He also studied medicine at Lawrenceburgh, and 
became a successful physician, with a considerable practice. 

Presbytery directed him, September 12, 18 12, to spend 
two weeks in the vacancies above Dayton, "the barrens of 
Ohio," at his discretion. October 5, 1813, he was dis- 
missed to the Presbytery of Washington, which received 
him at the spring meeting of the following year, when, 
April, 1 8 14, he became stated supply of Washington and 
London. At the latter place he had several students in 
medicine. In 1815 he supplied London and Treacle's 
Creek. He was dismissed April 8, 18 18, to the Presbytery 
of Lancaster, and the following spring took charge of the 
churches of Salt Creek (now Chandlersville), Buffalo (now 
New Cumberland), and Pleasant Hill (now New Con- 
cord), and was the next June installed as pastor. This 
relation continued until April, 1823, when he was released 
from Buffalo and Salt Creek congregations, remaining pas- 
tor of the Pleasant Hill church for another year. In 1824 



HINDRANCES INCIDENT TO WAR. 



49 



he removed to Jeromeville, whose pulpit he supplied. 
Here he built a residence, apparently designing to make 
the place a permanent home. He continued a lucrative 
practice of medicine. He also supplied the Perrysville and 
Rehoboth congregations, and preached occasionally at 
many other points, a service in which he delighted. But 
here two misfortunes came. August 18, 1825, he lost his 
wife, and soon after was compelled to relinquish his prop- 
erty, held as security for another's debts. 

In the summer of 1828, having previously, May 25, 
1826, been united in marriage with Mary, daughter of 
Jonathan Coulter, Esq. , of Perrysville, he returned to Indi- 
ana and settled at Eugene, Vermilion County. April 4, 
1832, he was dismissed to the Presbytery of Vincennes, 
having removed to " Honey Creek parsonage" and taken 
charge of Honey Creek and New Hope churches. Says 
his son : 1 

My first recollections are connected with that old parsonage. 
It was a hewed-log building, and stood at the edge of a grove of 
wild cherry and mulberry trees. Fronting a wide low prairie, it 
looked out toward Sullivan, then known as Prairieton. The whole 
region was at times overflowed by the Wabash and looked like a 
sea. A June freshet once came within a few yards of the door. 
In this romantic and secluded spot it was that the great calamity 
of Dr. Baldridge's life occurred — an attack of palsy. He had just 
left a patient and was mounting his horse at the gate when the 
blow fell. He was taken home in an unconscious state and 
so remained for several weeks. Subsequently he woke as 
from a sleep. When he was able to sit up he one day noticed 
the books in his library, and after surveying them in silence 
at last asked what they were. My mother tried in vain, by 
reading their titles, to recall them to his mind. He subsequently 
asked that a book might be laid upon his lap, but even the letters 
were a mystery. My mother has said that she then had a full sense 
of the bitterness of her grief, and that she could never, yielding to 
his importunity, sit down with a book to teach him his alphabet 

1 The Rev. Samuel C. Baldridge, D.D., Hanover, Ind., who has furnished MSS. for 
the narrative of his father's life. 



5o 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



without uncontrollable weeping. One day, however, as she was 
going through the weary task her husband suddenly turned to her 
with dilated eyes and exclaimed, " I see it all." From this time 
the past gradually yielded up its lost treasures. But his power 
was gone. 

He now removed to Paris, 111. , where he bought a farm 
and lived for some years. He afterward exchanged it for 
land within the bounds of New Providence church, between 
Paris and Terre Haute. ' ' Here the family lived for some 
years, learning how God can supply all our need. ' He 
gave us bread to eat and raiment to put on.'" About 
1840 Dr. Baldridge was invited to the church in Kalida, 
Putnam County, Ohio. He had preached occasionally 
before — "could not live without preaching" — but had no 
regular work since 1830. For a time he also preached at 
Dillsborough, Ind. Thence, about 1843, he removed to Ox- 
ford, Ohio, to give a son the advantages of the university, 
but thinking that the president was too little emphatic 
in his attitude toward slavery, he left Oxford for Hanover, 
Ind., in 1844. Two years later his home was finally broken 
up by the death of his wife, who had exhibited great pru- 
dence and cheerfulness in the midst of trial, and he found a 
resting-place at the house of his son, the Rev. Samuel C. 
Baldridge, where he died February 29, i860. His re- 
mains were taken to Hanover, where they lie buried with 
his second wife. 

Dr. Baldridge was adapted to his era. It was easy for 
him to move. Attachment to localities never hindered him. 
He rejoiced to preach in new and destitute regions, in pri- 
vate houses, and the summer woods. There are abundant 
testimonies to the power and ability of his preaching. At 
Jeromeville his overflowing congregations were gathered 
from the whole district around, many walking ten miles to 
hear him. After the lapse of sixty-six years a sermon 
preached in a private house near Lawrenceburgh was re- 



HINDRANCES INCIDENT TO WAR. 



51 



membered vividly by one who was present, perhaps the 
sole survivor. He was recognized by his fellow-laborers 
as a "born missionary," and his zeal and energy were 
honored by frequent appointments to the most arduous 
itinerant labors. He accepted joyfully the heat and 
burden of the day. He was of the same spirit, had the 
same vigor of constitution and the same delight in preach- 
ing that characterized the Gallaghers and Nelsons and 
Hendersons — that whole generation of evangelists that 
sprang up in east Tennessee under the training of Dr. 
Doak. " I have heard him say," writes his son, " that in 
his prime after a hard day's ride as a physician it would 
rest him to preach in the evening. ' ' 

Dr. Baldridge was an accomplished conversationalist. 
His Irish spirits were exuberant. His life began with bril- 
liant promise, but the sun went down at noon. With the 
single exception of Mr. Scott, at Vincennes, he was the 
first Presbyterian minister to become a resident of Indiana. 
He preceded William Robinson nearly four years. 

In 181 1 (as also in 1819) the name of Stephen 
Bovelle appears as a missionary to the state from the 
General Assembly. He had received licensure October 
10, 1794, from Transylvania Presbytery, but his career 
was a checkered one. 1 

The following year the Charlestown church in Clark 
County was constituted by the Rev. Joseph B. Lapsley, a 
nephew of Cleland, an amiable young man, and a recent 
graduate of Lexington, Va. 2 But society was already in 
commotion on account of the opening war with Great Brit- 
ain, a strife which sterner motives than those of patriotism 
brought home to the scattered settlements in the Ohio 
valley. The forests were still the haunts of savages, willing 

1 " Minutes Transylvania Presbytery," Vol. II., pp. 139, 178, 186, 187. 

2 " Life of Cleland," p. 76. 



52 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



now, as often before, to sell themselves for British promises 
to Britain's emissaries. It was not a period for successful 
evangelistic labor. The war, however, summoned from 
Cincinnati to Fort Wayne a young man whose name has 
just been mentioned among the original members of 
Miami Presbytery. "When General Harrison, in Sep- 
tember, 1812, marched to the relief of the garrison here, 
then besieged by the Indians, the expedition was accom- 
panied," says Judge Jesse L. Williams, "by Rev. Mat- 
thew G. Wallace, as chaplain of the army. If, as may be 
presumed, he preached to the soldiers while here, his was 
the first proclamation of the gospel, in Protestant form, on 
this ground. ' ' 1 More than a century earlier the voice of the 
Romish priest had doubtless been heard at " Kekionga," 
and the rites of religion had been celebrated there, but not 
until the French had long been expelled and the English 
were once more struggling for their lost dominion was the 
Bible brought by a Protestant minister to this ancient 
home of the red man. 

Matthew G. Wallace afterward returned to Indiana 
to hold for years an important pastorate. A licenciate of 
New Castle Presbytery, the successor of Peter Wilson at 
Cincinnati, where he preached from April, 1800, to April, 
1804, previous to 1809 he had supplied the churches at 
Springfield and Hambleton, and in 1814 he had charge of 
the congregations at Hamilton, Seven Mile, and Dick's 
Creek, Ohio. 2 

About the year 1831 two brothers named Wallace were suc- 
cessfully operating a saw-mill near where now stands Hulman's 
mammoth distillery [Terre Haute], and it having come to the 
knowledge of the people that their father was a Presbyterian 
minister, a subscription was circulated and a year's salary made 
up whereupon the Rev. Matthew G. Wallace was invited to 

1 " Historical Sketch of the First Presbyterian Church, Fort Wayne," p. 12. 

2 Gillett's " History," Vol. II., pp. 126, 151. 



HINDRANCES INCIDENT TO WAR. 



53 



preach for one year. This was all done before the people had 
ever seen Mr. Wallace. He was a man of positive, severe char- 
acter and kept charge of the church under many embarrassments, 
and notwithstanding various divisions, for nearly twenty years. 1 

In the winter of 1 850-1, overtaken by the infirmities of 
age, Mr. Wallace resigned his pastorate, his death oc- 
curring July 15, 1854. 

Though McGready, Robertson, Kemper, Vance, James 
H. Dickey, Bovelle, Lapsley, and Wallace occasionally 
preached the gospel in the territory during the seven 
years subsequent to Scott's settlement at Vincennes, and 
though for two years Baldridge was residing at Lawrence- 
burgh, it is evident that little was accomplished or 
attempted in behalf of the people north of the Ohio until 
peace was reestablished. Under its pastor's care the 
"Indiana" church prospered in a quiet way, but the 
Palmyra society died and the Charlestown flock remained 
shepherdless. No doubt the accounts preserved by Bishop 
and Davidson 2 of the irreligion and disorder which char- 
acterized this period in Kentucky might be repeated with 
increased emphasis concerning the newer Indiana settle- 
ments. A Kentucky town containing two or three thou- 
sand inhabitants, and which ten years after sustained three 
large churches, could not now collect a congregation for 
a missionary who visited it. 

The negroes were standing in the streets laughing and swear- 
ing ; the boys playing and hallooing ; the men in the outskirts of 
the town shooting at pigeons, of which immense flocks were fly- 
ing over the place ; the more respectable class of gentlemen riding 
out for amusement. In short, the only peculiar mark of attention 
by which the Sabbath day was distinguished was that there was 
more noise, more profanity, and more wickedness than on any 
other day of the seven. 

1 Sterrett's MS. "History of the Presbyterian Church in Terre Haute." 

2 "Memoir of Rice," p. 109. Cf. Davidson's "Kentucky," Chap XI. See also* 
" The Western Sketch-Book," by Rev. James Gallagher, pp. 21, 22. 



54 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



This was the experience of Samuel J. Mills, the leader of 
the praying band at Williams College, from which sprang 
our modern missions to the heathen world, and who, in 
1814-5, with Daniel Smith, accomplished, under the direc- 
tion of the Massachusetts Missionary Society, a tour of 
exploration through ' ' that part of the United States which 
lies west of the Allegheny Mountains." 1 He says in his 
report : 

Indiana, notwithstanding the war, is peopling very fast. Its set- 
tlements are bursting forth on the right hand and on the left. In 
1810 there were in the territory 24,500 inhabitants ; now they are 
computed by the governor at 35,000, by others at 30,000, and by 
some at 50,000. Its principal settlements are on the Miami and 
Whitewater, on the Ohio (extending in some places twenty miles 
back), and on the Wabash and White Rivers. Many small neigh- 
borhoods have received an addition of from twenty to forty fami- 
lies during the last summer. When we entered this territory 
there was but one Presbyterian clergyman in it, Mr. Scott of Vin- 
cennes. He was valiantly maintaining his post there for six years 
past. He has three places of preaching, and although he has not 
been favored with an extensive revival, yet his labors have been 
blessed to the edification of his congregations. His church con- 
sists of about seventy members. Between the forks of White 
River there is also a Presbyterian congregation in which there are 
about thirty communicants, and we have lately heard that a 
clergyman has settled among them. 2 In the state of Ohio we saw 
the Rev. William Robinson. He informed us that he expected 
soon to remove to the territory and establish himself at Madison 
on the Ohio. It is probable, then, that there are now three Pres- 

1 Associated with John F. Schermerhorn, Mills had attempted a similar service two 
years earlier. See " A Correct View of that part of the United States which lies west of 
the Allegheny Mountains, with regard to Religion and Morals," Hartford, 1S14. In 
this rare pamphlet, prepared almost entirely from Schermerhorn's manuscripts, there is 
but slight reference to Indiana. "The best lands in this territory are still claimed by 
the Indians. . . Between the falls of Ohio and Vincennes there are a few houses. 
. . There is only one Presbyterian minister in this rapidly-settling territory." — Pp. 
30, 31- 

2 This was the Washington church, Davies County, established by Samuel T. Scott in 
August of the previous year (1814), the fourth organization in the territory. The Rev. 
John M. Dickey had spent a few Sabbaths with the society in December, 1S14, but he 
was not yet settled there. 



HINDRANCES INCIDENT TO WAR. 



55 



byterian clergymen in the territory. But what are they for the 
supply of so many thousands ? They are obliged to provide prin- 
cipally for their own support, by keeping school through the week 
or by manual labor. They have therefore very little time to 
itinerate. The settlements on the Miami and Whitewater we did 
not visit, but were informed by missionaries who have occasion- 
ally labored there that they afford promising fields of usefulness. 
Probably congregations might be formed there. Places of preach- 
ing where considerable numbers of people would assemble 
might be established with short intervals from Lawrenceburgh, 
near the mouth of the Miami, to Jeffersonville on the Falls of the 
Ohio. In the vicinity of the Falls are two other flourishing little 
villages, Charlestown and New Albany. It is of high importance 
that the standard of the truth should be immediately planted 
there, for these places or some of them must soon become rich 
and populous towns. At Charlestown there is a small Presbyte- 
rian church. But it languishes for want of the bread and of the 
water of life. Leaving the river and proceeding a little further 
west we came to other flourishing settlements. Corydon is the 
present seat of government for the territory. Salem, a county 
seat, has near it three other places where churches might be 
formed. These settlements are yet in their infancy. It is said, 
however, that they are able to support a minister. And yet there 
are people here who for five years past have not seen the face of a 
Presbyterian clergyman. Their hearts have been grieved at the 
neglect of their brethren to send them any aid. . . . When 
they saw us they shed tears of joy. In that part of the territory that 
lies on the Wabash there are settlements both above and below 
Vincennes that deserve the attention of missionary bodies, partic- 
ularly those above, on Bussaron. An immense number of settlers 
have been crowding out on that frontier during the last season. 

We have now given a brief view of the principal settlements in 
the Indiana territory. If one or two faithful missionaries could be 
sent into it to travel through it and search it out, to collect con- 
gregations and organize churches, who can tell how much good 
might be done ? They might become the fathers of the churches 
there. Thousands would rise up hereafter and call them blessed. 1 

The date of this report of Mills is January 20, 18 15. 

1 " Report of a Missionary Tour through that part of the United States which lies 
west of the Allegheny Mountains, performed under the direction of the Massachusetts 
Missionary Society by Samuel J. Mills and Daniel Smith," Andover, 1815, pp. 15, 16. 



56 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



What was the religious condition of Indiana just as the 
second war with Great Britain was closing he presents with 
evident accuracy. 

In December, 1814, William Robinson, whom Mills 
"saw in Ohio," reached Indiana. Though directly from 
Miami Presbytery no doubt it was his former association 
with Kentucky ministers who had forded the Indiana 
streams and heard the bark of the Indiana wolves that 
turned him westward. He was a native of Ireland, but, 
coming to America with his father when a child, he found 
a home in Pennsylvania. 1 There he learned the wheel- 
wright's trade, which enabled him afterward to defray the 
expenses of a literary course at Washington, Pa. About 
the year 1792 he emigrated to Kentucky, where he studied 
theology under the tutorship of the Rev. Samuel Finley. 
He was taken under the care of Transylvania Presbytery, 
October 3, 1793, and was ordained over the Mount 
Pleasant and Indian Creek churches, August 11, 1796. 2 
These churches he had himself organized soon after his 
licensure and he continued to preach to them through the 
memorable revival of 1800. On the 13th of August, 1799, 
he married Miss Esther Grey, a member of the Mount 
Pleasant congregation. 

In the autumn of 1803 he removed to Montgomery 
County, Ohio, and immediately organized the churches of 
Dayton and Sugar Creek. The following year he organ- 
ized the Honey Creek society and labored as its minister 
until 1 8 10, 3 when he settled at Lebanon, Warren County. 
Between the congregation there and at Monger's settle- 
ment his time was equally divided. At Lebanon he was 

1 He was a member of the " Buffalo congregation " (Davidson's " Kentucky/' p. 121). 

2 "Minutes Transylvania Presbytery,"' Vol. II., p. 107, and filed papers. "Minutes 
West Lexington Presbytery," Vol. I., pp. 76, 95. Cited by Davidson. 

3 Cillett's " History," Vol. II., p. 126. 



HINDRANCES INCIDENT TO WAR. 



57 



also engaged successfully as a teacher, some of his pupils 
afterward attaining high positions. 

It was in the winter of 1814 that Mr. Robinson " came 
to the village of Madison to teach, and was soon engaged 
by the handful of Presbyterians here to preach to them." 1 
The following year he organized a church and gathered a 
congregation. There was at the time no house of wor- 
ship 2 and he was accustomed to preach in what some of the 
older generation still remember as the ' ' buckeye ' ' court- 
house. He also continued to maintain his school. 3 Here 
and in the immediate vicinity, especially at South Han- 
over, his work proceeded until 18 19. He then settled in 
Bethlehem, Clark County. In that village and in the sur- 
rounding district he preached regularly for two or three 
years, but in 1822 a dropsical malady proved so severe 
that he was almost entirely disabled for ministerial work. 
Sometimes, however, when unable to stand, he would de- 
liver the gospel message from his pulpit chair. The dis- 
ease making constant progress, he was at last rendered 
completely helpless, and in this condition he lingered for 
two or three years, until March 28, 1827, when, at a good 
old age, he died. He was laid to rest in the cemetery 
near Bethlehem. It was with difficulty that the unmarked 
grave was recently identified. 4 

Mr. Robinson was one of the original members of Salem 
Presbytery. He was also one of the four ministers set off 

1 Simpson's " History of the First Church, Madison," p. i. 

2 There were but two Presbyterian meeting-houses in the territory, both of logs and 
both near Vincennes in the " Indiana " parish. The first residence in Madison was 
built in 1809, but in 1709 Vincennes was a town. 

3 Mrs. James H. Johnston was one of his pupils. 

4 The minister upon the field wrote April, 1876 : " I can find no one who is able to 
point me to his grave. I found an ancient-looking grave, at the head of which there is 
a rough native limestone with the inscription, ' J. J. R., 1835,' supposed to be for one of 
his sons. By the side of it is a grave very much sunken, at the head of which is a 
small stone in its rough native state and uninscribed. This is supposed to be the grave 
of the Rev. William Robinson." According to the later testimony of a member of the 
family this surmise is correct. 



58 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



to form Madison Presbytery, and at its first meeting, 
April 7, 1826, he preached the opening sermon from 
Jeremiah xlviii. : 10. 

Like other pioneers, he suffered many privations, but 
happily he had been accustomed in early life to manual 
toil. Thus he was able to supplement the meager minis- 
terial support while it continued, and afterward, when 
even that failed him with his failing health, his mechanical 
skill was almost his sole reliance. A wheelwright in his 
youth, in the "Buffalo congregation," Pennsylvania, in 
his old age, at Bethlehem, he turned to wool-carding. At 
various times he availed himself also of the scanty fees of a 
schoolmaster. But with thirteen children to maintain it is 
not surprising that ' ' the family sometimes felt the pinching 
hand of poverty." The ministers of that day, doing their 
utmost to earn the opportunity of preaching the gospel, were 
content if they succeeded in saving those dependent on them 
from actual want. 

During all his residence in Indiana Mr. Robinson seems 
to have also been hindered by feeble health. A pupil at 
Madison remembers his distressing cough in the school- 
room, his tall spare frame and pale face ; and when, a few 
years later, he transferred his residence to Bethlehem, he 
was soon attacked by the disease which terminated his life. 
It will therefore be easy to account for the statement of one 
who knew him at Madison, 1 that "although living there 
several years he preached but little in the town ' ' ; and for 
the impression of another that he was ' ' less engaged than 
some of the ministers of his time in missionary tours." 2 

The qualities of the man were those which a Scotch-Irish 
parentage so commonly implies. He was sturdy and pos- 

1 Dr. McClure. 

2 He is said to have made two journeys, however, through destitute regions of the 
state. The only society constituted by him, according to Dickey's " Brief History," was 
the church at Madison. 



HINDRANCES INCIDENT TO WAR. 



59 



sibly in some instances stubborn and abrupt. Something 
of the old-country ideas as to the rights of a parish minister 
may have been born in him, and he did not care to have 
his labors supplemented by intruders, however respectable 
their commissions. A young man who ventured into the 
place in the winter of 1818-9, under the auspices of the 
General Assembly's Committee of Missions, was not 
warmly welcomed by the "incumbent." The minister 
in possession could not discern the necessity of the mission- 
ary' s visit nor the value of his labors. 

There was something of the same independent judgment 
in Mr. Robinson's attitude toward the new movement to 
promote total abstinence. The reform had few supporters, 
and among clergymen in the woods it was not unusual 
to indulge in a moderate daily dram. 1 Mr. Robinson's 
indulgence, according to abundant testimony, was not at 
all beyond what the habits of the day fully approved, but 
his liberty, such as it was, he was disposed to defend. In 
a neighboring pulpit it happened that the cause of temper- 
ance had a very zealous and able advocate. 2 From that 
quarter the whisky barrel got many a rap. When the 
echoes reached "Father Robinson" he declared that his 
brother ' ' might preach against whisky if he pleased, but 
as for himself he would drink it." 

There was also a trace of Scotch-Irish thriftiness in his 
character. It seems that at one time he had a little ' ' store ' ' 
in Madison. 3 " By secular employments he made much of 
his small salary," says one. Some of his neighbors, per- 
haps less prudent themselves, thought he carried his thrifty 
methods too far. But such devices were a necessity in those 
days, and all the pioneers were obliged to work their way 

1 Cf. Prime's " Memoirs of Goodell/' pp. 18-21. 

2 We are fortunate in having a brief notice of Mr. Robinson from the MSS. of Father 
Dickey, who relates this incident and who was probably himself the preacher referred to. 

3 This is the impression of Dr. McClure. 



60 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

to a Sunday pulpit, or a " sacramental four-days' meeting," 
or a protracted preaching tour, through much intermediate 
" weariness and painfulness " on the farm or in the shop or 
school. 1 If there was any mistake in Mr. Robinson's case 
it was in his looking less than some are inclined to do for 
the falling of manna from heaven for his hungry children. 
His habits no doubt prevented those frequent and protracted 
missionary journeys which extended so widely the useful- 
ness of many ministers of that day. 

As a preacher Mr. Robinson, while not brilliant, had ac- 
knowledged elements of power. He must have retained 
something of the unction of the Kentucky revival through 
which he labored. Impenitent men were accustomed to 
say : " He cuts to the heart. No sermons I hear trouble 
me like his. There is no getting away from them." 2 

1 Cf. " Report of Smith and Mills's Tour," p. 16. 

2 MS. of the Rev. John M. Dickey. 



CHAPTER V. 
The War Over and the Work Advanced. 
18-15- 

The war was now over. The movement of immigrants 
to Indiana, already in progress according to Mills's report, 
notwithstanding the disorders and perils of the frontier, 
with the coming of peace received a fresh impulse. There 
was increased necessity for missionary effort and the call 
was promptly answered. In 18 15 the General Assembly 
sent to the territory, for brief periods of service, Daniel 
Gray, from the Carolinas, Joseph Anderson, a Pennsyl- 
vanian, and James Welch, of Transylvania Presbytery. 
The Pittsburg Missionary Society was also instructed to 
engage others for the field. But these were all mere 
horseback riders. However faithful, their labors were too 
transient for large results. 

The year is signalized by the appearance of a different 
company. The man rides a horse, indeed ; but he has his 
wife and baby behind him, and his bed and kitchen 
stuff close by. He comes to spend his life for the people 
of the wilderness and to make his grave among them. It 
is John McElroy Dickey — plain, modest, resolute, tireless, 
true, sweet-voiced " Father Dickey." " His name," says 
Gillett, ' ' will stand deservedly conspicuous as the father of 
the Presbyterian Church in Indiana." 1 

John McElroy Dickey was born in York district, 
S. C, December 16, 1789. His grandfather, of Scotch- 

1 Gillett's "History," Vol. II., p. 397. 



62 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Irish descent, came from Ireland to America about the 
year 1737. His father, David Dickey, was twice married, 
first on March 28, 1775, to Margaret Robeson, who died 
four months after her marriage ; and subsequently, Sep- 
tember 4, 1788, to Margaret Stephenson. John was the 
first-born and only son of this latter marriage. He had 
four sisters, of whom one died in infancy. 

His parents were in humble circumstances, but of excel- 
lent Christian character. David Dickey was a man of 
unusual intelligence, and, according to the testimony of 
his son, had remarkable self-control. " I never saw him 
angry but once," the latter declared ; " nor did I ever see 
him manifest peevishness or fretfulness, even in old age." 
No pressure of business could ever induce him to omit the 
customary household worship or other religious duties. 
For years he taught the neighborhood school, and when 
John was but three years of age carried him to it daily. 
Of such a man the wife was a true helpmeet. Like Han- 
nah, she had given her son to God and formally devoted 
him to his service. It was her habit, while at the wheel 
spinning flax or cotton, to gather her children about her 
for instruction in the Shorter Catechism. "To my 
mother," said Mr. Dickey, "more than to any other 
human being, am I indebted for what I am. In the midst 
of doubts, fears, discouragements, and toils, it has often 
been a source of consolation to know that I had a mother 
who, in covenant with God, gave me up to him and to the 
work of the ministry. If all mothers were like her, the 
Lord's vineyard could not long lack laborers." 

Under such a home influence, the children all grew 
insensibly into the habits of piety, and were unable to fix 
the time when their early religious experience began. The 
son became familiar with the Scriptures, the Confession of 
Faith, and Form of Government of the Presbyterian 
Church — the reading books of that day — and the founda- 



THE WORK ADVANCED. 63 

tions were permanently laid for the clear theological views 
of his subsequent ministry. At four years of age it is 
said that he had read the Bible through. Not much later 
he was acquiring a considerable knowledge of mathe- 
matics, under his father's instruction, and aided by a coal 
and pine board. He eagerly improved his humble oppor- 
tunities for study, until new advantages were providen- 
tially opened to him by the removal of the family north- 
ward in 1803. David Dickey, though reared in a slave 
state, looked upon slavery as a curse, and sought to de- 
liver his family from its influence ; but upon leaving South 
Carolina he found himself obliged by circumstances to 
remain in Livingston County, Ky. After assisting for two 
or three years in the labor of clearing and cultivating his 
father's land, John went to study under the direction of his 
cousin, the Rev. William Dickey, 1 about a mile from his 
own home. The manse, however, had but one room, and 
the proprietor had several children of his own. Young 
Dickey, therefore, built a shelter near the house where he 
might keep his books and study. Thus he read Virgil 
and the Greek Testament, remaining with his cousin for 
about eighteen months. A school was then opened by the 
Rev. Dr. Nathan H. Hall, at Hardin's Creek church, two 
hundred and fifty miles distant, whither he determined 
to make his way. His father was quite unable to assist 
him, but John had secured a colt on the farm and raised it, 
so that he was now in possession of a fine young horse. 
Thus mounted, with perhaps two dollars in money, he set 
out upon the long journey. For board and lodging he 

1 The valuable notice of Mr. Dickey, in Sprague's " Annals," is marred by several 
inaccuracies. The Rev. William Dickey appears as Wilson; Mr. Dickey's great- 
grandfather is said to have emigrated from Ireland about 1740, whereas it was his grand- 
father, who came several years earlier than that date; Muhlenburg Presbytery is 
changed to Mecklenfairg ; the date of the organization of Salem Presbytery is set 
forward seven years; Columbus, Ohio, is substituted for Columbus, Ind. The 
appended communications from Mr. Dickey's ministerial brethren are singularly 
pictorial and just. 



6 4 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERI ANISM. 



sold his horse to a Mr. McElroy, and entered with zeal 
upon his studies. The horse ran away and was never 
recovered, but the student was already a favorite, and con- 
tinued a member of the McElroy household until his 
course at Dr. Hall's school was completed. He gave 
such assistance as he could in the labors of the farm, and 
all further compensation was refused by the hospitable 
host. It was thus that afterward, to avoid confusion 
often arising from the commonness of his own name, Mr. 
Dickey added McElroy to John. Soon becoming an 
assistant teacher in the school, he was enabled to support 
himself, at the same time working hard at his own course 
of study. 

Here he remained nearly two years, when he entered 
upon the study of theology with the cousin who had previ- 
ously been his instructor, and with the Rev. John Howe, 
at Glasgow, Ky. He was licensed to preach by Muhlen- 
burg Presbytery, August 29, 18 14, in the twenty-fifth year 
of his age, having already, November 18 of the previous 
year, been united in marriage with Miss Nancy W., 
daughter of William and Isabel (Miller) McClesky, of 
Abbeville district, S. C. 

In December, after his licensure, he made a visit to 
Indiana, and spent a few Sabbaths at what is now Wash- 
ington, Davies County, with a church that had been con- 
stituted, in August of the same year, by the Rev. Samuel 
Thornton Scott, Indiana's first resident Presbyterian 
minister. There were now but two other organized Pres- 
byterian societies within the limits of Indiana territory — 
the "Indiana" church, near Vincennes, constituted in 1806, 
and the Charlestown church, established in 181 2. A church 
formed in 1807, and known as the "Palmyra" church, 
had become extinct. There were but two Presbyterian 
meeting-houses, both of logs, and both in the 14 Indiana" 
parish. But two Presbyterian ministers were already 



THE WORK ADVANCED. 



65 



settled in Indiana, 1 Mr. Scott and the Rev. William 
Robinson. 

Mr. Dickey engaged to return to the Washington con- 
gregation, and accordingly, in May, 181 5, 2 still a licentiate 
under the care of Muhlenburg Presbytery, he set out 
for his home in the wilderness, with his wife and their 
infant daughter. The family and all their earthly goods 
were carried on the backs of two horses. His library con- 
sisted of a Bible, Buck's "Theological Dictionary," Bun- 
yan's "Pilgrim's Progress," and Fisher's "Catechism." 
When the ferriage across the Ohio was paid, they had a 
single shilling left. 

Now began the self-denials and struggles of pioneer life. 
It was impossible to expect a comfortable support from the 
feeble congregation. There was little money in the neigh- 
borhood. Taxes were partly paid in raccoon skins, fox 
skins, and "wolf-scalps." People lived on what they 
could raise from the small clearings, by barter, and by 
hunting. Indians still occasioned annoyance and anxiety. 
Corn was pounded in mortars or rubbed on tin graters. 
Wheat flour was seldom seen. Fruit was rare, except the 
wild plums, grapes, gooseberries, and pawpaws. Mr. 
Dickey, therefore, aided the support of his family by 
farming on a small scale, 3 teaching a singing-class, and 
writing deeds, wills, and advertisements. He also sur- 
veyed land, and sometimes taught school. Much of this 
work was done gratuitously, but it secured the friendship 
of the people. His average salary, including money and 
gifts, of which he kept a record, even to the minutest de- 
tail, for the first sixteen years was eighty dollars. In 
some way he secured forty acres of land, to which he sub- 

1 The Rev. Samuel Baldridge, M. D., had, in 1810, settled at Lawrenceburgh, but 
before Mr. Dickey's arrival had removed to Ohio. 

2 Dickey's " Brief History," pp. 12, 13. 

3 The character of the man came out, however, in the style of his farming. It was so 
thorough and intelligent that the productiveness of his fields was proverbial. 



66 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



sequently added eighty acres. Twenty or thirty acres he 
cleared, chiefly by his own labor. With his neighbors' 
help he built his first house in the woods. It was a small 
log-cabin — the floor of slabs split and hewed from oak and 
poplar trees ; the windows small, greased paper serving 
instead of glass ; the chimney partly of stone and partly of 
sticks, and daubed with clay. In later years he erected a 
schoolhouse on his farm, and made sash with his own 
hands for the small glass then in use. He was ' ' handy ' ' 
with tools, and fashioned the woodwork of his plows and 
other farming implements. Often would less skilful neigh- 
bors work for him in the field, while he ' ' stalked ' ' their 
plows, or made them a harrow or rake. He also had a set 
of shoemaker's tools, mending the shoes of his family and 
often those of his neighbors. He could himself cut out 
and make a neat shoe, but "never liked the work, and 
avoided it if possible. ' ' Music he read with great facility, 
supplying the lack of books with his pen, several of these 
manuscript volumes being carefully kept by his children. 
He was not unaccustomed, on special occasions, to com- 
pose both music and hymns for the use of the congrega- 
tion. Under his management the winter singing-school 
became a prominent and happy feature of the life in the 
wilderness. 

Preaching every Sabbath, and often during the week, he 
was compelled to do much of his studying while at work 
on the farm, or as he rode on horseback from place to 
place. The family were too poor to afford a lamp or can- 
dles, and often, after a day of manual labor, Mr. Dickey 
would gather pine knots, and having kindled a bright fire, 
would sit on the hearth and write the plan of a sermon. 
His best opportunities for meditation, however, came 
while riding to his preaching stations, through the forests, 
and along the quiet roads. With his Bible, hymn-book, 
and Confession of Faith in the saddle-bags, and a Testa- 



THE WORK ADVANCED. 



6 7 



ment and small concordance in his pocket ready for use, 
he pursued careful investigations of important themes. 
His son says : 

On a pony that had learned to avoid the mud by going close to 
the rail fence, I have seen him riding for miles, and at every cor- 
ner lifting his leg and drawing it up on the saddle to avoid the 
rails, too much absorbed in thought to observe what the pony or 
himself was doing. Occasionally returning to consciousness of 
things about him, he would rein the horse out into the road ; but 
the beast, preferring the harder ground, would soon go back to 
the fence, and creep so close to the sharp corners that the process 
of leg-lifting would begin again and go steadily on for another 
hour. 1 

At one time, returning from a preaching-tour to find the 
family entirely out of meal and flour, he remounted his 
horse, went to the mill several miles distant, procured a 
supply, and with the sack on the horse's back started 
homeward. But becoming engaged in meditation, the 
sack fell off without his notice. The hungry children, who 
had made several meals of potatoes, saw with dismay that 
he was returning without the supplies, and, calling their 
mother, met him as he rode up to the gate. A single 
question was enough to reveal the state of the case, and 
wheeling about, half-amused and half-ashamed, he hurried 
back to find the sack at the roadside. He often said that 
to think closely he must be on his horse. There was no 
subject engaging the attention of the world which he did 
not ponder as thoroughly as his opportunities allowed. 
He was well informed on questions of public policy, and 
sometimes addressed communications to those in power, 
always urging that ' ' righteousness exalteth a nation. ' ' 
These communications were kindly received and often 
elicited respectful replies. 

Mr. Dickey's cheerful labors were overshadowed, how- 

1 The Rev. Ninian Steele Dickey, to whom the writer is under many obligations for 
the use of MSS. 



6S 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



ever, and sometimes wholly interrupted, by the alarming 
diseases common in such new settlements. At first his 
own family escaped, but before a year had passed all were 
prostrated, and on October 23, 18 16, Mrs. Dickey died. 
Added to these personal sorrows was the discouragement 
arising from frequent removals of his people to other 
neighborhoods. There was, moreover, no suitable place 
of worship. This latter want was soon supplied, however. 
Though it was difficult to select a site against which no one 
would object, scattered as his congregation were along 
White River, upon a track sixteen miles long by ten wide, 
they finally united upon a piece of " Congress land" 

whose sterile soil would not be likely soon to tempt a purchaser 
to dispossess them. The members of the little society met on a 
day appointed, and cut logs twenty feet in length, which, with 
their native covering of bark and moss, were laid together. The 
minister was present to encourage his people, and some of the 
logs were notched by his own hands. The roof was of clap-boards. 
The earth formed both floor and carpet. The seats were hewed 
puncheons. On this log meeting-house, the third, it would seem, 
which the Indiana Presbyterians possessed, the people looked with 
pride. Rude as was the humble sanctuary, it equaled, if it did not 
surpass, the houses in which several of the congregation lived. It 
continued to be the place of worship until shortly after Davies 
County was organized, when the county-seat was located at Wash- 
ington, a temporary court-house was erected, and this then be- 
came the meeting-house. 1 

After four years' service 2 in this field, Mr. Dickey re- 
moved to Lexington, Scott County, and became pastor of 
the New Lexington and Pisgah churches, while he also had 
charge of the Graham church, situated on a creek of that 
name between Paris and Vernon, in Jennings County. His 
installation, August, 18 19, over the two former congrega- 

1 MSS. of the Rev. Thomas S. Milligan, long a friend of Mr. Dickey's family, a man 
of studious tastes and noble character. His death (October 7, 1S76) occasioned great and 
sorrowful surprise. 

2 Dickey's " Brief History," p. 4. 



THE WORK ADVANCED. 



6 9 



tions, was the first formal Presbyterian settlement in the 
territory. 1 Previously, however, April 2, 1818, Mr. Dickey 
had married Miss Margaret Osborn Steele. This wife 
shared his trials and successes for nearly thirty years 2 and 
became the mother of eleven children. The picture of the 
pioneer parsonage and its busy life would be sadly imper- 
fect without the portrait of this Christian woman. 

She was worthy of her husband. Much of his usefulness 
must be attributed to her. For the maintenance of the fam- 
ily she gave her full share of toil and self-denial, often living 
alone with her children for months together, disciplining 
them to industry and usefulness, while their father was ab- 
sent upon long and laborious missionary journeys. She 
cultivated a garden which supplied many household wants. 
Reared as she had been on the frontier, her education was 
at first limited, but under her husband's tuition she be- 
came a respectable scholar, able to instruct her own and 
her neighbors' children. She was an adept at the spinning- 
wheel and loom, and for many years made with her own 
hands all the linen and woolen cloth and garments for the 
family. There were also frequent additions to the exche- 
quer from the sale of jeans of her manufacture. Such was 
her trust in God that fear never seemed to disturb her 
peace. She had lived for a time where the dread of prowl- 
ing savages forbade the lighting of a lamp, or of a fire at 
night, and ordinary trouble produced no visible disturb- 
ance of her mind. In every good work she was foremost, 
whether it were making husk mattresses for the students at 
Hanover College, gathering supplies for destitute mission- 
aries, or caring for the sick and unfortunate at home. The 
meagerness of her own household stores did not prevent 
her from doing much for others. In the absence of her 
husband the family altar was regularly maintained, and the 

1 Reed's "Christian Traveller," pp. 91, 213. 

2 Her death occurred October 24, 1847. 



70 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Sabbath afternoon recitations from the Shorter Catechism 
were by no means omitted. Though her residence was on 
a farm and most of Mr. Dickey's public life was spent as 
pastor of a country church, she sustained a woman's weekly 
prayer-meeting. In the Sabbath-school and at public 
worship her place was seldom vacant, notwithstanding the 
claims of so large a family. It was the custom to begin 
the communion services on Friday, which was often a fast- 
day, and to continue them through the following Monday. 
Neighboring ministers and congregations attended these 
services in great numbers. Often was the hospitality of 
the parish taxed to the utmost. A member of Mr. Dickey's 
family says : 

Though I relished heartily the enthusiasm of these gatherings, 
especially the singing and the social enjoyment, I recollect that in 
my early days I dreaded these occasions, because I had to sleep 
on the floor, often without even a carpet or pillow, that room 
might be made for strangers. One of my father's neighbors, they 
used to say, had accommodation for sixty guests, while many 
young men and boys slept oh the hay in the barns. Notwith- 
standing the claims of guests and the necessity of unusual work at 
these seasons, everything was ordered so that the women of the 
household might be present at all the public meetings. I do not 
recollect ever to have known my mother to be absent except on 
account of the severe illness of herself or some member of the 
family, and never did I hear her complain of the burden of enter- 
taining so many strangers. I have known her to be much con- 
cerned as to suitable provision for their comfort, but what she 
had was cheerfully given. 

Is it not natural to ask whether the dignity and graceful- 
ness of these hospitable rites are often surpassed or equaled 
now ? The preparations are more elaborate and the cere- 
monies more pretentious, but is the welcome as warm or 
as wise ? 

It is not surprising that a mother, so prudent and dili- 
gent, so religious in her denial of self and her generosity to 
others, aided, too, by such a husband, should be blessed 



THE WORK ADVANCED. 



71 



with dutiful and noble children. Her sons and daughters 
grew up in piety, and most of them survive in prominent 
and useful stations. 1 

In the midst of the scenes now described, Mr. Dickey's 
indefatigable labors continued. He served the New Lex- 
ington and Pisgah churches until April, 1835, a period of 
sixteen years, when the care of the former congregation was 
committed to other hands, though he held the pulpit of the 
Pisgah society for twelve years longer, and until the infirm- 
ities of age admonished him that the end was near. 

It is not as pastor of the small country flock that his 
usefulness is to be measured, however. He was a traveling 
bishop. From far and near he was called to assist in 
special services, in revivals, at communions, and in vacant 
churches. The whole southern half of the territory he 
often traversed in difficult horseback journeys, and fre- 
quently his mission work extended to the ' ' regions be- 
yond." In January and February, 1823, having received 
an appointment from the Assembly's Committee of Mis- 
sions, he made an exploring tour to Vincennes and 
Crawfordsville, and returning fulfilled appointments for 
preaching which he had scattered as he advanced. 

Before he had reached the end of his outward journey violent 
rains had fallen, and the Wabash, with its tributaries, became very 
high, and was for the most part without bridges. Yet he preached 
thirty-one sermons in thirty days, and kept all his appointments 
save two. In a number of cases if the engagements had been a 

l It would seem that our pioneer history furnishes a notable illustration of the power 
of parental influence. Especially do the humble parsonages of the earlv days in the 
woods prove what worthy children God gives to faithful fathers and mothers. Of Mr. 
Dickey's children are : Margaret, wife of Dr. James F. Knowlton, Geneva, Kan.; 
Jane, wife of Dr. W. W. Britain, on the homestead, near New Washington, Clark 
County, Ind. ; the Rev. Ninian S., for eighteen years pastor of our church in Columbus' 
Ind. ; John P., a Presbyterian ruling elder, and James H., in Allen County, Kan.; 
Nancy E., wife of Mr. Mattoon, Geneva, Kan. ; Martha E., wife of Thomas Bare, Esq., 
Carrolton, 111.; Mary E., wife of James M. Haines, Esq., New Albany, Ind.; and 
William Matthews, a graduate of Wabash College, a student of medicine, a prisoner at 
Andersonville, and a resident of California. The oldest son died at the age of seven- 
teen, while a student for the ministry. 



72 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



single day earlier or later, the impassable streams must have de- 
tained him. And so he was accustomed to say, "The Lord deliv- 
ered me out of the deep waters." In the summer of 1824 he spent 
two months in the counties of Bartholomew, Rush, Shelby, and 
Decatur, under the direction of the Indiana Missionary Society, 
which a short time before he had assisted in forming. During this 
journey he organized the churches of Columbus and Franklin and 
the church of New Providence, near Shelbyville. His custom was 
to make a tour of two weeks, preaching daily, and then for an 
equal length of time remain at home laboring in his own parish. 1 

We are aided in recalling the methods and sacrifices of 
those days by the vivid pen of one of Mr. Dickey's fellow- 
laborers. 

At Madison, in 1829, I first met with Father Dickey, who came 
to assist Mr. Johnston 2 during a protracted meeting. He had 
been delayed a little by stress of weather and bad roads ; the con- 
gregation were assembled when he entered the church, fresh from 
his horse and journey. I seem to see his figure, of full medium 
height, spare and bent, marching up the aisle in a well-worn and 
soldier-like overcoat, and drab leggings, with saddle-bags on his 
arm, and presenting a face, thoughtful, gentle, and earnest, ex- 
pressive of an equable spirit, firm and mild. When he spoke from 
the pulpit he had an unnatural tone ; he showed little rhetoric, 
little of the learning or art of the schools, but much good sense, 
faith, and fruit of study in prayer and love. The people listened 
with a kind and appreciative attention. His character evidently 
helped him. He was well known in Madison, and everybody felt 
that his words were those of a wise and disinterested friend. 
There I learned to revere him as one communing much with God 
and ever penetrated with everlasting things ; whose mind and 
heart were habitually conversant with the greatest interests ; who 
sought not his own, but was revolving plans of large usefulness ; 
a man, sober and trusty of judgment, and of organizing ability ; 
laborious and modest ; stable in the truth ; candid and liberal, but 
not lax ; fraternal and broad in his sympathies, loving and, like 
Christ, loving the world. 

1 MSS. of the Rev. Thomas S. Milligan. 

2 The Rev. James H. Johnston, who died at Crawfordsville March 8, 1876, having 
completed the longest term of continuous service ever attained by a minister of our 
church in Indiana — more than fifty-one years. 



THE WORK ADVANCED. 



73 



A few days later I found Father Dickey at Indianapolis, attend- 
ing the anniversaries of the State Benevolent Societies, in estab- 
lishing which he had been among the prime movers and in which 
he continued to show an efficient interest. The legislature was in 
session, and on the Sabbath he preached to a large audience, from 
Jeremiah vi.: 16 — "Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and 
see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk 
therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." He spoke with 
unction and to general acceptance, notwithstanding his peculiar 
mode of delivery. 

Two months afterward he surprised me with a visit at my bach- 
elor's room at an inn in Logansport. He had come on an 
exploring mission from his home in the southern part of the state, 
in February, 1830, encountering such difficulties from the roads 
and high waters and rude beginnings of the settlers, remote from 
each other, as belonged to that period, and all from a desire, 
preaching as he went, better to know the spiritual destitutions of 
the state, and more intelligently to labor in removing them. 

During a few more years I was wont to see him at Synods, 
where his presence was always valued, and notably I remember 
him in the General Assembly at Philadelphia, 1832. In the 
strifes of the times he was not a warm partisan ; he knew nothing 
of intrigue ; and beyond most men seemed to act above prejudice 
and in the light of conscience and the spirit of Christ. 1 

Though never of a rugged constitution, the contrast 
with his wife's vigor and endurance being the occasion of fre- 
quent remark on her part, indulging the hope, as she did, 
that she might be permitted to cheer him in life's decline, 
Mr. Dickey sustained such various labors as have been 
described for a long period. Not until April, 1847, was 
he compelled by failing health to surrender the pastorate 

l MS. letter of the Rev. Dr. Martin M. Post, dated January 7, 1876. Born in Corn- 
wall, Vt., December 3, 1805, Middlebury's valedictorian in 1826, a graduate of Andover, 
reaching his mission field at Logansport, Ind., December, 1829, he there continued to 
reside until his death, October 11, 1876. For the fathers of the Indiana Synod the semi- 
centennial year was a fatal one. Johnston fell asleep March 8, but three days before 
John Ross (cet. 92), these two having been the sole remaining representatives of the 
former times in the Synod, North. Dr. Post's demise occurred but four days later than 
that of Thomas S. Milligan. The five sons of the former all received a collegiate and 
theological training, the youngest, Roswell O., having become pastor of the flock so long 
cared for by his father. 



74 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



he had held for twenty-eight years. After an interval of a 
few months his health was so far restored that he was able 
to labor in the service of the American Tract Society for 
nearly a year. On the termination of this work he sought 
no further fixed employment, but ministered in the pulpit 
and as a counselor, most usefully, as opportunity came. 

In 1828 Mr. Dickey had published, under the direction 
of the Synod, "A Brief History of the Presbyterian 
Church in the State of Indiana," now the source of our 
best information with regard to the early days. 1 This 
small pamphlet it was his earnest desire to enlarge and 
complete. His son writes : 

The last work of my father's life, on which his heart was set, 
was the completion of the history. He was very feeble in body 
at the last, but vigorous in mind, and sat at his table and wrote as 
long as he was able. Industry was his characteristic. I never 
saw him idle an hour. When forced to lay down his pen it cost 
him a struggle. At his request I acted as his amanuensis and 
prepared several sketches of churches, of which he said no 
other living man knew so much as he. 

All was, however, left quite unfinished. He lived but a 
day or two after laying aside his pen. 2 

1 " In regard to the early history of Presbyterianism in Indiana, he was a sort of 
gazetteer or book of reference, from which we had rarely, if ever, occasion to appeal." 
— Dr. Henry Little, in Sprague's "Annals," Vol. IV., pp. 518-9. 

- As to the origin of the " Brief History," and the various efforts to supplement and 
complete it, see " Minutes of Salem Presbytery," Vol. I., p. 20 ; " Minutes of Madison 
Presbytery," Vol. I., p. 26; " Minutes of Indiana Synod," Vol. I., pp. 13, 15, 31, 53, 
59,60,549,586,612,624; Vol. II., pp. 207, 225, 347, 384, 401, 419, 423, 436, 437,446. 
Mr. Dickey's pamphlet, though accurate, is not infallible. I have before me the 
author's copy, with his manuscript corrections. The more important of these are the 
following: Page 5, as to Madison church read, "it was supplied by Mr. Robinson for 
two years. In the summer of 1819 the Rev. Thomas S. Searle located at Madison, and 
was installed the following year pastor of Madison and Hanover churches "; page 6, as 
to the date of the organization of Pisgah church read, " February 27, 1816 "; the name 
of Daniel C. Banks is substituted for that of James McGready, as having constituted 
the New Albany church, the latter having formed the church at Jeffersonville ; page 7, 
as to the date of the Rev. Isaac Reed's settlement in Owen County read, " October, 
1822"; page 8, read, " Mr. Proctor labored three fourths of his time (at Indianapolis) 
for a year, beginning October, 1822. Mr. George Bush commenced his labors there in 
June, 1824"; page 10, read, " June, 1821," as the date of the organization of Evansville 



THE WORK ADVANCED. 



75 



The only meetings of the Presbytery and Synod he had 
failed to attend were those held at New Albany a few 
weeks previous to his death. He wrote to his brethren 
apprising them of his feebleness, and assuring them that 
his work was nearly done. Synod appointed a committee 
to suggest a suitable reply, on the reception of which Mr. 
Dickey was deeply moved, at the family altar with choked 
utterance giving thanks to God that the lines had fallen to 
him in such goodly places, among such loving and faithful 
brethren, and praying that God would greatly prosper 
them. Suffering intensely in the closing hours, his peace 
was great. Although for twenty-five years afflicted with a 
pulmonary disease, his endurance was remarkable. He 
finally fell asleep November 21, 1849. The Rev. Philip 
Bevan, a licentiate of Cincinnati Presbytery, at this time 
supplying the New Washington church, officiated at the 
funeral. On the following Sabbath the Rev. Dr. Harvey 
Curtis, then pastor of the Second Church, Madison, 
preached in the New Washington Meeting-house a com- 
memorative discourse from the text descriptive of Barna- 
bas : " He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, 
and of faith." — Acts xi. : 24. 

Mr. Dickey's remains lie buried beside his second wife 
and three of his children, in the cemetery of the Pisgah 
(now New Washington) church. His tombstone is a 
plain marble slab, inscribed with his name, age, the date of 
his death, and the text of the commemorative discourse. 1 

church; page n, for James Balch substitute Nathan B. Derrow, the name of the 
" New Hope " church having been originally and until 1825, " Hopewell." 

There are such typographical errors as Samuel B. Robinson for Robertson, and 
Martin B. for Nathan B. Derrow. 

It is also to be observed that Dickey makes no allusion to the organization of Rising 
Sun church, September, 1816 (by Nathan B. Derrow), and of Concord church, Orange 
County, September 27, 1818 (by Orin Fowler), nor to the labors of Samuel Baldridge 
(1810-2), Samuel J. Mills (1814-5), William Goodell (1822), Lucius Alden (1825), and 
John Ross (1822-76). 

1 On the announcement of his death in Synod a movement was made to erect a 
monument to his memory at the expense of his brethren. The motion was opposed by 



7 6 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Of the man who so wisely and laboriously laid the 
foundations of Christian society in Indiana, the best esti- 
mate is presented in the simple record of his career. It is, 
however, to be observed how sagacious and determined he 
was in the advocacy of views which then were new, but 
now are generally accepted among good men. 

In his personal appearance most unostentatious, his dress 
was usually homespun. Though in his later years he wore 
broadcloth in the pulpit, his every-day garb was of the jeans 
provided by the hands of his wife and daughters. Doubt- 
less the necessity of economy determined this habit, but 
there was also still remaining among the plain people of 
the frontier that prejudice against imported stuffs which 
during the Revolution had been so violent. 1 Beneath such 
an unassuming exterior, however, dwelt a singularly broad 
and self-reliant mind. 

The character of the man was indicated in his early and 
bold advocacy of the temperance reform. It has been 
asserted that he preached the first sermon in Indiana 
against intemperance. 2 A lady relates, as illustrating the 
propriety of such preaching at the time, that on one occa- 
sion, when a child, she was put out of a back window by 
her mother, and sent with great haste to one of the neigh- 
bors for whisky, ' ' because they saw Mr. Dickey, the 
preacher, coming." One of his son's earliest recollections 

Samuel Merrill, Esq., who said that he knew Mr. Dickey well enough to be sure that 
such display would have offended his modesty. Mr. Merrill suggested instead that 
funds be raised for a hall in Wabash College, to be known as " Dickey Hall." The 
suggestion met with cordial approbation, but was never carried out. 

1 The Rev. James Dickey, of South Salem, Ohio, a cousin of " Father Dickey," went 
to the General Assembly in Philadelphia dressed in homespun, and on a Sabbath was 
invited to fill one of the city pulpits. After ascending the pulpit the sexton first came to 
him, and subsequently the elders, to offer him a pew, as he was now occupying the 
clergyman's place. But they were soon surprised with a good sermon from the intruder. 
The next day the ladies of the congregation presented him with a clerical suit, but he 
gently declined it, saying that where he lived the people would not hear him preach in 
such clothes. 

2 The honor seems to belong either to him or to " Father Cravens," of the Methodist 
Church. 



THE WORK ADVANCED. 



77 



is of a stormy onset upon him by four of his parishioners, all 
distillers, as they were gathered under a spreading beech, 
after one of his discourses against the prevailing vice. 

I expected that he would give them a severe castigation, and 
was indignant when afterward, with reference to the affair, he 
merely said, "Why, I didn't suppose they would like the ser- 
mon." And yet, so great was the influence of his teaching that 
two of these men never distilled whisky afterward. One of them 
would not even sell his distilling apparatus, but let it stand and 
rot. In a few years public sentiment, aided by a fire which 
destroyed one of the establishments, closed the other stills, so 
that intoxicating drinks were not manufactured within the bounds 
of his congregation. 

He met the neighboring ministers in argument upon this 
subject, and so ably and with such good humor did he 
maintain his cause that, largely owing to his influence, the 
region where he lived and labored banished intoxicating 
liquors from use as a beverage. His reputation as a 
debater in behalf of total abstinence was so assured, and 
the unpopularity of opposing him so well known, that a 
young man who had represented the district in Congress, 
and was an aspirant again for the position, declined to 
debate the question with him, though he had issued a chal- 
lenge to any one who would meet him. 

"Father Dickey" was always an earnest anti-slavery 
man. 1 For several years he cast the only ballot in his 
township for Free-soil principles. By and by his convic- 
tions became so strong that, though he never introduced 
politics into the pulpit, privately and in debating societies 
he discussed the question, and ultimately won over nearly 
all his people to anti-slavery sentiments. 2 Living on the 

1 See Mrs. Stowe's " Men of Our Times," p. 548. Cf. Reed's " Christian Traveller," 
p. 152; Johnston's "Forty Years in Indiana," pp. 12, 13, 15, and 17; and Crowe's 
"Abolition Intelligencer." 

2 I have before me a thick, yellow manuscript, in the careful handwriting of Father 
Dickey, and entitled, "An Address to Christians on the Duty of Giving Suitable In- 
struction to Slaves." The argument is tender and convincing. It is dated December 
20, 1822 — a very early period for such an argument upon the Kentucky border. 



7S 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



border where runaway negroes were numerous,, he fear- 
lessly preached from such texts as, "Thou shalt not deliver 
unto his master the servant which is escaped from his 
master unto thee" (Deut. xxiii. : 15); and under his in- 
structions the better men of the community ceased the 
lucrative business of hunting fugitives, although the prac- 
tice had been thought innocent and necessary. The name 
of "the old abolitionist," which those "of the baser sort" 
gave him, rather pleased him. He said it would one day 
be popular. 

I remember Father Dickey [writes Mrs. Harriet Beecher 
Stowe 1 ] chiefly through the warm praises of my brother and my 
husband, who used to meet him at Synods and Presbyteries. 
They used to speak of him as an apostle after the primitive order 
— "poor, yet making many rich ; having nothing, and yet possess- 
ing all things." He advocated the cause of the slave in the day 
when such advocacy exposed one to persecution and bodily 
danger. My husband, to whom I have appealed, says he remem- 
bers him well and loves his memory, but that he was a man that 
"didn't make anecdotes"; always constant, steady, faithful, he 
inspired younger ministers by his constancy and faith, and the 
simplicity of his devotion to Christ. 2 In my novel of "Dred," 
now changed in title to " Nina Gordon," the character of Father 
Dickson was drawn from my recollection of this good man, as 
described to me. 3 

The services which Mr. Dickey rendered to the cause of 
education were also important. His own early opportuni- 
ties for study had been secured amidst manifold difficulties, 
and he sought the more earnestly to provide for his 
children and his neighbors' children an easier and better 

1 From Mandarin, Fla., February 5, 1876. 

2 A clergyman, who was at one time a pastor in southern Indiana, and went back to 
New England after a few years' trial of the frontier, relates that on a certain occasion 
he saddled his horse and rode fourteen miles to lay his discouragements before Mr. 
Dickey and obtain advice and sympathy. But when he observed how the latter was sup- 
porting a large family, without a thought of faltering, though in the midst of difficulties 
compared with which his own were trifling, he returned home without even mentioning 
the object of his visit. 

3 See Stowe's " Nina Gordon," Vol. I., pp. 300, 301 and passim. 



THE WORK ADVANCED. 



79 



way. In his first parish in Davies County he taught 
school. 1 Until the division of the Presbyterian Church in 
1837 he was an active trustee of Hanover College. 2 
Chiefly through his influence a wealthy Englishman, Mr. 
Thomas Stevens, was induced to establish and maintain 
a female seminary on the Ohio River near Bethlehem. In 
a suitable brick building, erected by Mr. Stevens for that 
purpose, Mr. Dickey resided several years, providing 
a home for the teachers and securing educational privileges 
for his children. The first principal of the school was Miss 
Longly, who, after two years in the seminary, became the 
wife of the Rev. Dr. Riggs, of the Sioux mission. Much 
was accomplished by the school for the whole surrounding 
region. 

It is not surprising that a life so variously useful and 
a character so strikingly symmetrical have elicited affec- 
tionate eulogies. ' ' He was always spoken of with great 
reverence by my mother," says one who in childhood was 
accustomed to see him at her own home. "I met him 
first in Presbytery," wrote another, " and I well remember 
that the impression of his goodness derived from others 
was heightened in me by the first day's observation . . . 
I was never with one whose flow of feeling savored so 
much of heaven." 3 "He has left a name," said Dr. 
Martin M. Post, "which suggests a wise counselor, a true 
worker, a thoroughly honest and godly man. May a 
double portion of his spirit rest on his successors in the 
Synods of Indiana." 

It is with this era of restored tranquillity and growing 
missionary activity that the territorial history of Indiana 

1 The Presbyterian minister was almost inevitably the schoolmaster in the early days 
at the West. Scott, Baldridge, Robinson, Todd, Martin, Crowe — nearly all the earliest 
settled ministers taught schools. 

a It is evident that in the first struggles of the school at Hanover, he, with Johnston, 
was Crowe's "brother beloved." 

3 Henry Ward Beecher, in Sprague's " Annals," Vol. IV., p. 519. 



80 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

terminates. The population is about eighty thousand. 
William Henry Harrison, the first governor of the terri- 
tory, had in 1813 been succeeded by Thomas Posey, a 
senator in Congress from Tennessee, an officer of the 
revolutionary army, and a Presbyterian ruling elder. 1 The 
last regular session of the territorial legislature is held at 
Corydpn in December, 1815. On the 19th of April, 1816, 
the president of the United States approves the bill pro- 
viding for a state government, and on the 10th of the 
following June a constitutional convention assembles. At 
the first state election, August, 1816, Jonathan Jennings is 
chosen governor. There are three settled Presbyterian 
ministers in Indiana at the opening of the year 1816, and 
four churches, with a membership of possibly one hundred. 
But good and wise men are laying the foundations for 
steady and substantial progress. 

i October 9, 1817, " General Thomas Posey, an elder from the church of ' Indiana ' 
appeared in Synod and took his seat." — " Minutes Kentucky Synod," Vol. I., p. 115. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Aid from New England. 
1816, 1817. 

Again appeared, early in 1816, tremendous McGready. 
Possibly he crossed the Ohio just before the year began. 
The next year his earthly career was to close, and it seems 
that these last labors 1 for the Indiana church were 
peculiarly energetic and useful. He established the Blue 
River congregation in Washington County, February 6, 
and the Pisgah church, Clark County, February 27. 
Thomas Cleland and Joseph B. Lapsley were also sent 
again by the General Assembly to the state, together with 
William Wylie and Samuel Brown. It is not certain that 
either of them performed the duty assigned. 

But, apparently at his own charges, came, simultane- 
ously with McGready and possibly in his company, another 
notable Kentuckian, who may claim especial attention 
since subsequently his hard service in Indiana was to cost 
him his life. 

Samuel Shannon was a graduate of Princeton College while 
under the presidency of Dr. Witherspoon. He was admitted a 
member of Transylvania Presbytery, as a transfer from the Pres- 
bytery of Lexington, Va., April 28, 1789, and was the third Pres- 
byterian clergyman who settled north of the Kentucky River. He 
lived till the year 1806 in the lower part of Woodford County, and 
had the charge of a small church called Woodford church. He 
then moved across the Kentucky River into Franklin County, 
where his family remained and where he had his home till his 
death. 

1 The Assembly of 1817 commissioned him to Indiana, but there was a higher call 
awaiting him. 

81 



82 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



The last years of his life were spent in missionary labors, chiefly 
in the destitute parts of the state of Indiana. In the summer of 
1822, while engaged in one of these missionary excursions, he 
caught the fever of the season and of the place. Apprehensive of 
the consequences he made the best of his way home. His family 
met him a few miles from home, but were unable to move him 
any further. They had just an opportunity of expressing their 
affection toward him, and of receiving his departing blessing, 
when he expired. 1 

In the War of 1812 he volunteered to accompany the northwest- 
ern army as a chaplain. He was a man of great physical strength. 
His fist was like a sledge-hammer, and he was said to have 
lopped off a stout bough at a single stroke of his sword, when 
charging through the woods. Notwithstanding his strength he 
was one of the best-natured men in the world, and nothing could 
provoke or ruffle him. He had also a mechanical turn, and 
invented a piece of apparatus called " the Whirling Table." 2 

But in the pulpit he was awkward and his utterance was 
slow and stammering. His zeal, however, w r as untiring 
and his usefulness was unquestioned throughout the new 
settlements. 3 

It will be seen how exclusively thus far the foundations 
have been laid by Presbyterian agencies. We may have 
the pleasure now of observing the friendly alliance with 
other instrumentalities. In New England home missionary 
operations were carried on chiefly through the ordinary 
ecclesiastical organizations. Among these the missionary 
society of the Connecticut Association 4 was eminent for 
zeal and for the number and intelligence of its emissaries. 
Penetrating at last to Indiana they seem to have had no 
thought of establishing Congregational churches, but with 
all their strength aided the Presbyterian movement, now 
for more than twelve years under way. It is not difficult 
to explain their policy. Finding here a Kentucky and 

1 Bishop's " Memoir of Rice," p. 286. 

2 Davidson's " Kentucky," p. 83. 

3 He established the important churches of Livonia and Salem. 

4 See Appendix A. Cf. Dickey's " Brief History," p. 18. 



AID FROM NEW ENGLAND. 



83 



Tennessee and Virginia population, descended from a 
Scotch-Irish ancestry and bound by prejudice, habits, con- 
victions, and affection to the ancestral church, it would not 
require a Yankee's shrewdness to detect the hopelessness 
of an attempt to proselyte them. But these missionaries 
from New England had no desire to make proselytes. 
They came in the service of Christianity. They seem indeed 
in many cases to have been unconscious of any line whatever 
dividing them from Presbyterians. They adhered to the 
Westminster standards and raised no question about the 
Presbyterian form of government. In many instances they 
received ordination from Presbytery. The type of New 
England piety they brought to the West was that of Con- 
necticut, among whose Puritan founders those of Presby- 
terian preferences balanced almost evenly the Independent 
element. 1 The period was one of beautiful harmony and 
signal success, and may be reviewed with unmingled satis- 
faction. 

Nathan B. Derrow appears to have been the earliest 
of all these devoted laborers from New England. Coming 
from Connecticut to western New York in 1802, on the 
2d of February, 1803, he was ordained and installed over 
the Homer church, 2 which he happily served until 1807. 
He then moved westward again to "New Connecticut" 
(what is now known as the Ohio Reserve), and settled at 
Vienna, Trumbull County. 3 In 1815 he spent "eighteen 
weeks in various parts of New Connecticut," "publishing 
the gospel, reproving error, and strengthening the weak." 4 
It was in 18 16 that he came to Indiana, commissioned by 
the Connecticut society. ' ' He traveled extensively through 
the state, and besides the church of Graham he consti- 

1 Hodge's " History," pp. 33, 34. 

2 Hotchkin's " History of Western New York," pp. 47, 421. 

3 Gillett's " History," Vol. II., p. 140. 

4 Connecticict Evangelical Magazine, Vol. V. 



8 4 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



tuted a church at Brownstown ' ' 1 which soon became extinct. 

"In July 1 817 Clement Hickman, from the Presby- 
tery of Geneva, N. Y. , settled with his family at Princeton, 
where a small church had been previously formed by Mr. 
McGready." 2 A few months later, while visiting New 
Harmony, he was taken ill and died. He rests there in an 
obscure grave. A child of his lies buried in a field near 
Princeton. He had previously been a minister in the 
Methodist Church ; but in the year 18 10, coming to Painted 
Post, N. Y. , and employed by the inhabitants to preach 
for them, he applied to the Presbytery of Geneva, and 
April 18, 181 1, was duly licensed. The subsequent year, 
August 25, he was ordained and installed, but was dis- 
missed, September 10, 18 16, to journey westward, and to 
end his days soon after in Indiana. 3 

It was at this same period that William Dickey, an- 
other kinsman of "Father Dickey," for a month or two 
took his place among the frontiersmen ; and Daniel 
C. Banks, settled at Henderson, Ky. , near the border, 
rendered valuable service in organizing 4 and for a time 
preaching to the congregation at New Albany, who also, 
in 1 82 1, under the Assembly's appointment, effectively 
aided the church at Evansville. 5 

Now occur two historic names, John Todd and James 
Balch, names that recall some of the most honorable 
national and ecclesiastical traditions. They arrived in the 
same year (181 7), and both strikingly illustrate the fugi- 
tiveness of the most brilliant family distinctions. 

1 Dickey's " Brief History," p. 13. 

2 Dickey's " Brief History," p. 13. 

3 Hotchkin's " Western New York," p. 452. Cf. p. 107. 

4 In Dickey's " History " McGready is named as the founder of the New Albany 
society, but the error is corrected by the author in the margin of his own copy of the 
pamphlet. 

5 McCarer's " Memorial Sermon,*' p. 7. The Evansville church was organized by 
Mr. Banks, in June, 182 1. 



AID FROM NEW ENGLAND. 



85 



The name of John Todd belongs to a classic region in 
American church history and introduces us at once to a 
courtly company. It was in old Hanover Presbytery, 
Virginia, and associated with James W addel, David Rice, 
and Archibald Alexander 1 that John Todd of Indiana 
passed his early years. 

His father, John Todd, was the companion of Samuel 
Davies, and before the latter' s transfer in 1759 from 
Virginia to the presidency of Princeton College ' ' was 
called to wear the mantle of Davies ' ' 2 and ' ' was for many 
years the leading man in the presbytery east of the Blue 
Ridge." 3 

The senior Todd immigrated to America about A. D. 
1740 4 from the province of Ulster, Ireland, where his 
ancestors had taken refuge more than a century before 
from the persecution of Presbyterians in Scotland by 
Charles I. He is said to have been a weaver. 5 He grad- 
uated from Princeton College in 1749, a member of the 
second class admitted to a degree, and was taken on trial 
by the New Brunswick Presbytery May 7, 1750. About 
ten days after Mr. Davies ' ' represented before the Synod 
of New York the great necessities of the people in the 
back parts of Virginia, where multitudes were remarkably 
awakened and reformed several years ago and ever since 

1 Cf. " Life of Alexander," p. 210. 

2 Gillett, 1st ed., Vol. I., p. 94. Cf. Briggs's 'American Presbyterianism," pp. 296-7., 

3 Foote's " Sketches of Virginia," second series, p. 47. 

4 In " John Todd, the Story of his Life," Harper's, 1876, occurs (p. 526) the follow- 
ing: " There are in this country three distinct families of Yorkshire Todds. One of 
these sprung from an ancestor of unknown name who settled in Virginia, whence his 
descendants have spread into Kentucky. Thomas Todd, associate justice of the United 
States court, was one of them. He married the widow of Major George Washington (a 
nephew of General George Washington) and sister of Mrs. President Madison. James 
Madison Todd, of Frankfort, Ky., is a son of Justice Todd, as was also Col. C. S. Todd, 
aid to General Harrison and the first minister of our government to the United States of 
Colombia." The elder Todd of this narrative is the "ancestor of unknown name" 
above alluded to. Cf. Davidson's " Kentucky," p. 67, foot-note. 

5 Webster, p. 608. 



86 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



have been thirsting after the ordinances of God." 1 There- 
upon the Synod recommended " to the Presbytery of New 
Brunswick to endeavor to prevail with Mr. John Todd, 
upon his being- licensed, to take a journey thither." He 
was licensed November 13, 1750, and from a report made 
to Synod in the autumn of that year it appears ' ' that 
Mr. Todd is preparing speedily to go." It was at first 
designed that he should locate in Prince Edward or in 
Charlotte County, but the objections raised by the General 
Court, in sympathy with the Church of England, made it 
impossible to obtain houses of worship there. Mr. Todd 
was accordingly invited to occupy four of the places 
licensed for Mr. Davies. 2 A call was laid before New 
Brunswick Presbytery, May 22, 1751, and on his ac- 
ceptance of it he was ordained. The civil license ob- 
tained as required by law in such cases curiously illustrates 
the difficulties in the way of ' ' dissenting ' ' preachers 

1 See letter of Jonathan Edwards, November 24, 1752, in which he also alludes to a 
recent interview in New Jersey with Mr. Davies, who told him then " of the probability 
of the settlement of Mr. Todd, a young man of good learning and of a pious disposition, 
in a part of Virginia near to him." 

2 Seven such places had with difficulty been secured. Foote's " Sketches of Virginia," 
second series, p. 45. In 1618 a law had been passed in Virginia which enacted that 
"every person should go to church on Sundays and holy days, or lie neck and heels 
that night, and be a slave to the Colony the following week." For the second offense 
he was to be a slave for a month, and for the third, a year and a day. Cf. Stith's 
" History," p. 148. In 1642 a law was passed providing that "no minister shall be 
permitted to officiate in the country but such as shall produce to the governor a testi- 
monial that he hath received his ordination from some bishop in England ; and shall 
then subscribe to be conformable to the orders and constitutions of the Church of Eng- 
land ; and if any other person, pretending himself to be a minister, shall, contrary to 
this act, presume to teach or preach, publicly or privately, the governor and council are 
hereby desired and empowered to suspend and silence the person so offending ; and, 
upon his obstinate persistence, to compel him to depart the country with the first con- 
venience." Cf. Bishop's " Memoir of Rice," p. 38, foot-note. Mr. Samuel Morris and 
his friends who were accustomed to meet at his house, known as Morris' Reading- 
House, for the purpose of reading on the Sabbath " Luther on the Galatians," Boston's 
""Fourfold State," Whitefield's "Sermons," etc., were called upon by the court to 
assign reasons for their absence from the parish churches and to " declare to what de- 
nomination they belonged." Happily it occurred to them to suggest that they were 
Lutherans, and as no law or precedent was discovered to direct the court how to proceed 
against the Lutherans the suspected persons were released. Bishop's " Rice," pp. 

43, 44- 



AID FROM NEW ENGLAND. 



37 



in those days. The following is a copy of the record : 

Wednesday, April 22, 1752. 
Present, the Governor, William Fairfax, John Blair, William 
Nelson, Esqrs., William Dawson, D.D., John Lewis, Thomas 
Nelson, Philip Grymes, Peyton Randolph, Richard Corbin, Philip 
Ludwell, Esqrs. 

John Todd, a dissenting minister, this day in Court took the 
oath appointed by the Act of Parliament to be taken instead of the 
oath of allegiance and supremacy and the abrogation oath, and 
subscribed the last-mentioned oath, and repeated and subscribed 
the test. And thereupon, on his motion, he is allowed to officiate 
as an assistant to Samuel Davies, a dissenting minister, in such 
places as are already licensed by this Court for meeting of dis- 
senters. 

This official paper looks more like a restraining order 
than a license, and doubtless was intended as such. But 
the compulsory arrangement, says Foote, 

proved very agreeable to the seven congregations, as it left them 
all in connection with Mr. Davies ; and equally pleasing to Mr. 
Davies, as it gave him more frequent opportunities for those mis- 
sionary excursions in which he delighted, the influence of which is 
felt to this day ; and no less acceptable to Mr. Todd, who enjoyed 
the experience and council of his friend, with the privilege of 
missionary excursions. 

Mr. Todd was accordingly installed, November 12, 
1752, by Hanover Presbytery, "into the pastoral charge 
of the Presbyterian congregation in and about the upper 
part of Hanover County, Va." 1 The discourse was by 
Samuel Davies, and was afterward published "at the 
desire of the hearers and humbly dedicated to the reverend 
clergy of the established church in Virginia, by S. Davies, 
V. D. M." 2 

1 At Davies's suggestion Jonathan Edwards had previously, when dismissed from 
Northampton, been called to this field. See " Bellamy Papers," and Webster, p. 609. 

2 Extracts from the "Dedication" will be found in Foote. By a happy fortune the 
manuscript of this remarkable discourse has found a place of security in the region 
whither Todd's descendants migrated, and where many of them have been laid to rest. 



88 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Todd was now established in the work which he was per- 
mitted to prosecute in Virginia for nearly forty-two years. 
The field was soon visited, and a remarkable impulse given 
to religion, by Whitefield. To him Todd writes, June 26, 
1755 : 

The impressions of the day you preached last here, at my 
meeting-house, can, I believe, never wear out of my mind ; never 
did I feel anything of the kind more distressing than to part with 
you, and that not merely for my own sake, but that of the multi- 
tudes that stood longing to hear more of the news of salvation 
from you. I still have the lively image of the people of God- 
drowned in tears, multitudes of hardy gentlemen that perhaps 
never wept for their poor souls before standing aghast, all with 
signs of eagerness to attend to what they heard, and their signifi- 
cant tears, expressive of the sorrow of their hearts that the)' had 
so long neglected their souls. I returned home like one that had 
sustained some amazing loss ; and that I might contribute more 
than ever to the salvation of perishing multitudes amongst us, I 
resolved I would labor to obtain and exert more of that sound 
fire which the God of all grace had so abundantly bestowed upon 
you for the good of mankind. To the praise of rich grace be it 
spoken, I have had the comfort of many solemn Sabbaths since I 
saw you, when, I am persuaded, the power of God has attended 
his word, for sundry weeks together ; and in my auditory, which 
was more crowded through your means than it had been before, 
I could scarce see an individual whose countenance did not indi- 
cate the concern of their souls about eternal things. And blessed 
be God those appearances are not yet wholly fled from our 
assembly. 

I was by orders of Presbytery to attend the installation of Mr. 
Henry, the 4th of the month, at Lunenburg, about a hundred miles 
southwest of this place, and we administered the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper the Sabbath following. We preached Thursday, 
Friday, Saturday, Sabbath, and Monday. There was comfortable 
evidence of the power of God with us every day ; believers were 

After a day in the library of Wabash College I was recalled by the president to examine 
a case of relics, where I discovered this very MS. of Davies, thick, firmly sewed, yellow, 
but perfectly preserved. The penmanship is precise, the wide margin crowded with 
scriptural references, the Greek mottoes from Clemens Alexandrinus and Chrysostom 
beautifully transcribed, points and all, and the psalm to be sung at the close written- 
down entire. 



AID FROM NEW ENGLAND. 



s 9 



more quickened and sinners were much alarmed. Many of them 
talked with Mr. Henry and me with great desire to know what 
they should do to be saved. One I remember came to me trem- 
bling and astonished, the nearest image I ever saw of the trembling 
jailor, crying, " What shall I do to get an interest in Christ?" In 
my return home I made an excursion to preach to a number of 
people who had never before heard a " New Light," as they call 
me. I hope the word of God was attended with divine power to 
many of their hearts. 1 

The negotiations which had already been opened to send 
Davies to England in behalf of Princeton College, and which 
resulted in his transfer to the presidency of that institution, 
alarmed the Virginia Presbyterians, who looked up to 
Davies as their father. No one was quicker to take the 
alarm than Todd, on whom the change would impose new 
and grave responsibilities. Of him Davies thinks when con- 
templating the Atlantic voyage. ' ' I also am encouraged, ' ' 
he says, ' ' from the reflection that my congregation will not 
probably suffer in my absence, as Mr. Wright, I expect, is 
well accomplished for the place ; and my cautious and pru- 
dent Rev. Mr. Todd will be so near at hand to assist in 
cases of difficulty." 2 Afterward, when the invitation to 
Princeton came, he was at first disposed to decline it, 3 but 
when he finally concluded to go Todd became the superin- 
tendent of affairs and bishop for our church "in the back 
parts of Virginia. ' ' 

It is to be observed that throughout this period much 
labor was bestowed by the Presbyterians upon the slave 
population. 

Last Sunday I had a sacrament [wrote Davies], assisted by my 
good brother and next neighbor, Mr. Todd. It was a time of un- 
usual anxiety to me. I hope it was a refreshing time to some 

1 See Gillies's " Collections." The above letter is reprinted by Foote. 

2 Davies's " Journal," July 25, 1753. 

■3 Davies's " Sermons," Barnes ed., Vol. III., p. 467, foot-note. 



go 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



hungry souls. I had the pleasure of seeing the table of the Lord 
adorned with about forty-four black faces. 1 

As early as 1755 Todd had a hundred of these people 
"under his instruction." 2 

Public affairs also began to require the attention of our 
ministers. The discussions and conflicts which brought on 
the Revolution were warmly maintained in the valley of 
Virginia. Our ministers and people were loyal to liberty. 
Archibald Alexander says : 

That man will go on a desperate adventure who shall proceed 
to hunt out the Presbyterian Tories of the Revolution. Our min- 
isters were Whigs, patriots, haters of tyranny, known abettors of 
the very earliest resistance, and often soldiers in the field. 3 

It is not surprising then that Todd was "a staunch 
Whig." 4 At the first meeting of the Presbytery of Han- 
over after the Declaration of Independence that body 
addressed a memorial to the Virginia House of Delegates, 
identifying themselves with the patriot cause. It was 
signed by John Todd as moderator. 5 In 1785, on the 13th 
of August, at Bethel, Augusta County, an important con- 
vention was held to oppose a scheme for general taxation 
in support of religion — a scheme which Patrick Henry and 
others advocated. Todd was chairman of the convention. 6 

To his other work the care of a classical school was now 
to be added. The chief motive seems to have been the 
preparation of young men for the ministry. David Rice, 
a member of Todd's congregation, who afterward became 
" Father Rice" of Kentucky, began the study of Latin at 

1 Foote's " Sketches of Virginia," second series, p. 47. 

2 Foote's " Sketches of Virginia," first series, p. 286. 

3 Princeton Review, Vol. XIX., p. 482. Cf. Miller's " Life of Rodgers,'' p. 146, and 
Bishop's " Memoir of Rice," Chap. XV. 

4 Foote's " Sketches of Virginia," second series, p. 47. 

5 Davidson's " History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky," p. 37, and Foote's 
" Sketches," first series, pp. 323-4. 

0 Davidson's " Kentucky," p. 37. Foote's " Sketches," first series, pp. 342-4. 



AID FROM NEW ENGLAND. 



this school. 1 James Waddel, Wirt's "blind preacher," 
who had emigrated from Ulster in Ireland, and whose 
family, it is possible, was there not unknown to Todd, be- 
came an assistant instructor, and under the principal's 
direction pursued the study of divinity. 2 The needed fur- 
niture of books was secured for the school from England, 
the London merchant, John Thornton, contributing fifty 
pounds sterling to promote the object, and the Rev. Dr. 
Gordon, with whom the correspondence was carried on 
and who interested others in the enterprise, himself giving 
liberally. 3 This donation of books was destined to serve 
most important ends beyond the original design. By and 
by, with Mr. Todd's increasing age, the classical school 
declined. No successor appeared to conduct it. Other 
academies, with more ambitious claims, had now been 
established. It was the venerable preceptor's happy sug- 
gestion, therefore, that the library be transferred to 
Kentucky, for the use of the students of Transylvania 
Seminary. In that region it was natural that he should be 
interested, where his old pupil Rice was making himself 
famous, and where James Moore, 4 who married Todd's 
daughter, was to have the new institution in charge. 
Accordingly, among the names of the founders of Transyl- 
vania University that of the Rev. John Todd of Hanover 
Presbytery in Virginia stands first, 5 with that of his 
nephew, Colonel John Todd, member of the Virginia 
legislature from the county of Fayette. 

In the later years of his life Mr. Todd was unable to per- 

1 Bishop's " Memoir of Rice," pp. 28, 55. 

2 Foote's " Sketches," first series, p. 351. Sprague's " Annals," Vol. III., p. 236. 

3 Davidson's " Kentucky," pp. 292-3. 

4 The Rev. Dr. James Moore was originally a Presbyterian, but, upon his trials for 
licensure, meeting what he, perhaps rightly, esteemed too little charity, he took orders 
in the Episcopal Church. The Rev. Dr. Daniel McCalla, of South Carolina, also 
married a daughter of Mr. Todd. 

5 Davidson's " Kentucky," p. 289. 



92 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



form all the duties of his pastoral charge. Severe labors 
in the Virginia wilderness, during the ardor of youth, had 
exhausted his vigor. Compelled to cease entirely from 
preaching tours in ' ' the parts beyond, ' ' and often detained 
by ill-health from the church courts, both he and James 
Waddel were severely criticized by the younger men, who 
"knew not Joseph," though it was into Joseph's labors that 
they were so cheerfully entering. A foolish slander as to 
his laxity in the admission of candidates to the communion 
appeared to Todd's sensitiveness deserving of reply, and 
he made his way to Presbytery in the Cove congregation, 
Albemarle, July, 1793. Having fully vindicated himself 
he set out for home on Saturday, the 27th, but on the 
same day was found in the road lifeless. Either his 
spirited horse had thrown him, or he had suffered from an 
apoplectic attack. 

John Todd of Virginia was evidently a man of solid and 
useful rather than brilliant qualities. With a vigorous and 
well-trained mind, in circumstances offering abundant 
scope for the highest abilities, he gave himself with entire 
devotion to the service of the church. He was an impres- 
sive preacher. "Heard Mr. Todd preach an honest 
sermon," is Davies's record in his diary. Colonel Gordon 
said, on hearing him at the communion, November 1, 
1761 : 

I never heard a sermon, but one from Mr. Davies, that I heard 
with more attention and delight. Oh, if the Lord would be 
pleased to send us a minister of as much piety as Mr. Todd. 1 

It was of such a father that John Todd, the younger, was 
born, in Louisa County, Va. , October, 1772. The region 
itself was in its variety and beauty of scenery well fitted to 
quicken the faculties of a boy, and the manse of Provi- 
dence parish, which was at the same time the seminary, by 
its daily routine fostering a high intellectual life, also gave 

1 Webster's " History," p. 609. 



AID FROM NEW ENGLAND. 



93 



frequent welcome to guests who would have shone in the 
most brilliant assembly. Here the pastor's son obtained 
his first knowledge of books, and here he was molded by the 
stately manners of the society around him. The prepara- 
tory course having been finished at the parsonage and at 
Washington Academy, he was sent to Dickinson College, 
Pennsylvania, where he graduated. His theological 
studies at Princeton were in the days of Dr. John Wither- 
spoon, and when they were completed he returned to 
Virginia to begin his ministerial career in his native county. 
Licensed by Hanover Presbytery, September 13, 1800, he 
' ' preached his first sermon where his father preached his 
last." 1 For some time he served the churches left vacant 
by his father. Having previously, in 1795, married, he 
removed to the West in 1806, 2 and settled in Louisville, 
Ky. , where he kept alive the family traditions in establish- 
ing a school. He first connected himself, October 10, 
1809, with the Presbytery of West Lexington, but was 
received October 3, 18 10, by Transylvania Presbytery. 
Though occupied with his school he was accustomed to 
preach at various points in Kentucky, and sometimes 
spent a Sabbath on the northern side of the Ohio in the 
territory of Indiana. 

It was just at this time that Craighead's erratic theology 
was producing great excitement throughout Kentucky. 
Notwithstanding the previous admonition of Synod (Oc- 
tober, 1806), he had in 1809 preached and printed the 
famous sermon on "Regeneration." He was understood 
to maintain, with other clearly Pelagian tenets, that faith 
and sanctification are effects of the written word, apart from 
any direct agency of the Holy Spirit. His views had at- 
tracted a considerable number of independent minds, and 
among them John Todd. It is not unlikely that the fasci- 

1 Foote's " Sketches," second series, p. 49. 

2 Not 1809, the date which Davidson, followed by Foote, gives. 



94 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



nations of his oratory, acknowledged by jurists like John 
Breckinridge, had prejudiced Todd's judgment. The lat- 
ter, however, maintained a correspondence with his father's 
former neighbor, Dr. Archibald Alexander, with reference 
to the points in dispute, seeking light and counsel. Such 
good-tempered discussion, with his own solitary reflection, 
would probably have led a candid man like Todd gradually 
back to the accepted theology. But these were times of 
war. Kentucky Presbyterians had suffered too much an- 
noyance from heretics to be in a patient mood. They drew 
the scimitar at once. Todd, having been accused of teach- 
ing Craigheadism, was arraigned by Transylvania Presbytery 
August 14, 181 2, and after trial was admonished. This 
Presbyterial onset not being calculated to calm one's judg- 
ment, it is perhaps not surprising that the accused contin- 
ued to preach the views which admonition had failed to en- 
lighten. Upon the advice of Synod he was therefore sus- 
pended, April 15, 1813, but October 13, 1817, the contro- 
versy was amicably adjusted. 1 

It will be remembered that Dr. James Moore, Todd's 
sister's husband, had experienced what he and his friends 
considered needless rigor when seeking licensure from 
Presbytery. Perhaps it will now be generally thought 
that a larger measure of kindness might have retained that 
valuable man 2 in the Presbyterian Church. At any rate 

1 " Minutes Transylvania Presbytery," Vol. IV., pp. 35, 52, 119. " Minutes Synod of 
Kentucky," Vol. II., pp. 31, 36, 61, 105. Cf. Davidson's " Kentucky," p. 276. The 
tone of Davidson's account of this affair is needlessly offensive. His book is valuable — 
the result of independent study of original documents and written not unattractively. 
It is, however, too warm for history. In his notice of the Cumberland difficulty, of 
Craighead, and of the separation of 1837, ne P ut himself too near the fray. At the dis- 
tance of forty years his expletives seem quite too fierce. The treatment of Todd is only 
a single instance illustrating the justice of Dr. Alexander's criticism : " We think that 
in some cases there is too much minuteness of detail, as in describing certain irregulari- 
ties ; and in others there is what may be called too rigid a fidelity in recording facts, 
which might have been better left in perpetual oblivion." See Princeton Review, VoL 
XIX., p. 30S. 

2 Davidson's " Kentucky," pp. 295-6, foot-note. 



AID FROM NEW ENGLAND. 



95 



this household tradition must have affected the mind of 
Todd and rendered a judicial process the more offensive. 
That indeed does not seem to be the successful means of 
curing, though . doubtless it is sometimes the necessary 
instrument for cutting off heretics. But in this same 
region, where the ability and taste for theological debate 
yet survive, Todd had afterward the satisfaction of illus- 
trating the advantage of milder methods A young Ken- 
tucky preacher, John A. McClung, who was creating a 
considerable sensation by his powers of argument and 
oratory, early in his career was distressed by serious 
doubts. His biographer says : 

He promptly stated his condition to Presbytery and asked to be 
relieved. In the discussion which ensued a motion was made to 
go to the extent of expulsion. The Rev. John Todd, a noble and 
venerable soldier of the cross, rose and said : " Brethren, I hope 
no such action will be taken. Brother McClung is honest ; he is a 
seeker after truth, but under a cloud. Give him time. Relieve 
him as he asks. Do nothing more. The light will again dawn 
upon him and he will surely return." 1 

The counsel of Todd was followed, and the light did dawn. 
A valuable reputation was spared and the usefulness of a 
minister's life defended. 

During Mr. Todd's residence at Louisville he had occa- 
sionally preached, as early as 1808 apparently, at Charles- 
town, Ind., whither he sometimes took his family in the 
summer to avoid the heat of a southern city. These 
excursions were continued until the autumn of 1817, when, 
in October, the disagreement with Presbytery having been 
adjusted, he removed to Indiana and took the pastoral 
charge of Charlestown church. 2 Here he remained, a part 
of the time also maintaining a school, until September, 

1 McChmg's " Western Adventure," p. vii. 
3 Dickey's " Brief History," p. 14. 



96 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

1824, 1 when he returned to Kentucky and settled at Paris, 
there establishing a classical academy. Though his health 
was now somewhat impaired he also continued to preach 
as opportunity was presented, but in 1831 crossed the 
Ohio again, and took up his residence in the southern part 
of Marion County, whither two daughters, Mrs. Judge 
James Morrison and Mrs. Thomas J. Todd, had preceded 
him. The church of South Marion having been organized, 
he supplied it and the church of Eagle Creek, both now 
extinct, until his death, which occurred, unexpectedly, 
from apoplexy, December 13, 1839. His remains rest in 
the cemetery at Greenwood, Ind. 

Mr. Todd had enjoyed better opportunities for literary 
culture in early life than most of his contemporaries in 
the western woods, and naturally the tradition of his 
scholarship survives him. He was especially strong in the 
Greek, employing constantly the Septuagint of the Old 
Testament and the original version of the New when 
prosecuting his biblical studies, and not uncommonly em- 
ploying the latter at family worship. He habitually read 
the fathers in the original. A son of another of our 
Indiana pioneers retains vivid impressions of his "won- 
derful library." 2 "It was full of the old books," Mr. 
Kent recollects. Richard Baxter was a favorite, and in 
the peculiar views at one time entertained by Mr. Todd it 
was claimed that he was only Baxter's disciple. The style 
of his preaching was controlled by his studious habits, and 
was rather argumentative and biblical than rhetorical. It 

1 He was not dismissed to West Lexington Presbytery until April 5, 1827. See 
" Minutes Madison Presbytery," Vol. I., pp. 45> 46. The letter of dismission was pre- 
sented to and received by Ebenezer Presbytery, April 15, 1S29. 

2 It is probable that this library preserved a portion of the Gordon gift from England. 
Most of the books have been scattered and lost. By the courtesy of Dr. Henry G. Todd, 
of Danville, I have in my possession a volume of the Monthly Review, London, 1753, 
with the autograph of Samuel Davies on the title page, and on a fly leaf, in beautiful 
chirography, " John Todd's book, iober, 1760." 



AID FROM NEW ENGLAND. 



97 



was usually extemporaneous, though the preparation was 
careful and often written. 

By inheritance from both branches of his family Mr. 
Todd held a number of slaves, which he brought with him 
to Kentucky, but as he did not recognize the right of 
slavery he received these servants as a trust for which he 
was to be held responsible to God. He taught them to 
read the Scriptures and gave them careful religious 
instruction. As they arrived at the age of twenty-one they 
received their freedom, a condition which at that time was 
not prohibited by the state law. 

The manners of Mr. Todd were of the old school, 
especially polite. The Rev. N. S. Dickey writes : 

I saw him at my father's. He came in with his hat under his 
arm, having taken it off before he reached the outer door, and 
with a very cordial but formal greeting met my father and mother. 
I noticed the old gentleman's politeness and dignity, and though 
but a child spoke to my mother upon the subject. She took occa- 
sion to commend him as a model of deportment. "Why, 
mother," said I, "a neighbor's boy declares that Mr. Todd takes 
off his hat to the niggers." "Well," she answered, "the negroes 
uncover their heads out of respect to Mr. Todd, and surely he 
would not allow them to excel him in courtesy. I wish all my 
sons might be as good and polite as he." 

Mr. Todd seems to have been as hospitable as he 
was urbane. The manse at Charlestown was a well-known 
"missionary stopping-place." 1 The old logs listened to 
many an hour's noble conversation, while around the big 
fire the guests and the host recounted God's past mercies 
and laid plans for the highway in the wilderness. At that 
chimney corner Martin, Crowe, Dickey, Reed, Bush, 
Fowler, Day, Goodale, and indeed all the pioneers of that 
early day found a welcome. 

In person Mr. Todd was rather stout, about five feet 

i Cf. MS. diary of Orin Fowler. 



9 3 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



eight inches in height, weighing usually one hundred and 
eighty pounds. His head was bald. 

The following extracts from a letter written from Green- 
wood, February 7, 1835, 1 throw some light upon the 
occupations and spirit of his later years : 

My settlement after I came to this vicinity was in the midst of a 
people very generally possessing religion, but connected mostly 
with the Methodists and Baptists. Few as we are, however, and 
not generally in independent circumstances, there is a readiness 
expressed to build a house of worship. One of our members, in 
a situation the most central for the church, has offered to furnish 
the ground and to aid in the undertaking. And last season they 
expressed a particular desire that as I was unsettled I should 
make my residence among them, with the generous offer of aiding 
me in my support, furnishing ground necessary during my life, 
and erecting for me necessary buildings, with the consideration 
that I should give some aid to a few young persons, not confining 
myself from other duties. This was the offer of two families. . . . 
During the last year my preaching, with little exception, was con- 
fined to the people of this church 2 and New Providence, 3 to 
whom I preached on the Sabbath — once a month only at New 
Providence, except that occasionally I preached to them on other 
Sabbath afternoons, when in the forenoon I had preached to the 
people of South Marion. 

The stately movement of these sentences and their dig- 
nified formality are as good as a portrait. It was evi- 
dently a Virginia gentleman of the olden time who held 
the pen. 

Also in 18 1 7 came to Indiana, the same year as Todd, 
James Balch, son of James and Anne (Goodwyn) Balch, 
who was born in Mecklenburg County, N. C. , December 
2 5> I 75°- His three elder brothers were all distinguished 

1 The penmanship is remarkably precise and bears a striking similarity to that of his 
father. 

2 Eagle Creek church. 

3 This now extinct organization in the vicinity of Greenwood is not to be confounded 
with Shelbyville, which was first called New Providence. See Dickey's " Brief History," 
p. 9, and Sluter's " History of Shelbyville Church," p. 2. 



AID FROM NEW ENGLAND. 



99 



Presbyterian clergymen. Hezekiah Balch, original, in- 
trepid, imprudent, the first president of Greenville College, 
Tennessee, made himself conspicuous as a controversialist 
and was sooner or later summoned to the bar of almost 
every ecclesiastical court to which he was amenable. 
Hezekiah James Balch, five years younger, was a member 
of the Mecklenburg Convention (May 19, 1775), and had 
"an important agency" 1 in forming the "Declaration" 
which has been held to be the germ of the Declaration of 
Independence in Philadelphia the following year. His 
personal presence was impressive ; he was an excellent 
scholar ; and his early death in the summer of 1775 
disappointed the hopes of many in the church. 2 Dr. 
Stephen Bloomer Balch, born April 5, 1747, lived until 
September 7, 1833, having been able after passing the age 
of fourscore to preach with power. 3 With such brothers 
James, the youngest of the four, passed his childhood. He 
seems to have been one of the first licentiates of Abingdon 
Presbytery, and took charge, October, 1786, the year after 
the Presbytery was formed, of Sinking Spring congrega- 
tion. He was a member of the first board of trustees of 
Greenville College, and in the church courts was an 
earnest defender of sound doctrine and rigid order. Re- 
moving to Kentucky he was received from Abingdon by 
Transylvania Presbytery, October 1, 1799 ; settled in 
Logan County ; and there had an opportunity to display 
the bold and independent qualities which characterized his 
family. An original member of Cumberland Presbytery, 
he put himself into prominent opposition toward the new 

1 He was a member of the committee of three which drafted the paper adopted by the 
convention May 20. Cf. Lossing's "Pictorial Field-book of the Revolution," Vol. 
II., p. 412. 

2 " There is nowhere a monument or tradition to direct to the grave of Hezekiah 
James Balch, or anywhere a living mortal to claim him as ancestor." — Foote's 
"Sketches of North Carolina," p. 441. 

3 The notices of the Balch family in Sprague's " Annals " contain but a single sentence, 
and that an inaccurate one, with reference to the youngest brother. 



IOO 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



measures inaugurated by that body. He openly disap- 
proved of the extravagant methods employed during the 
McGready revival. That he should have been censured 
by McGready 1 for his course need occasion no surprise, 
but his conservatism scarcely deserves the rebuke of a 
historian. 2 

In 1817 Mr. Balch removed to Sullivan County, Ind. , 
already having completed his sixty-sixth year. Founding 
the Hopewell church, on Turman's Creek, he continued 
to labor there until his death, which occurred January 12, 
1 82 1. He was a resolute and sometimes no doubt ap- 
peared a stubborn man. His mental acquirements were 
what his favorable early opportunities would lead us to ex- 
pect. He was a faithful and pungent preacher. 

Until recently there had been no stone to mark in an 
open field the sunken grave of a pioneer who bore and 
honored one of the notable names of his generation. At 
the spring meeting of Vincennes Presbytery (1879) a com- 
mittee was appointed to reinter the body. This was done 
on the 29th of the following October. At his own request 
Mr. Balch had been buried near the old Hopewell meeting- 
house — a comfortable log house near Turman's Creek, in 
Sullivan County, Ind. The church had long ago dis- 
appeared, and the land had fallen into the hands of one 
who knew nothing of the grave, which had been plowed 
over several years. The remains were removed to the 
Presbyterian burying-ground near Graysville, in the same 
township. Mr. James Johnson, who almost sixty years 
before attended the funeral, was present. 

l "About this time the Rev. J. B. came here and found a Mr. R. to join him. In a little 
time he involved our infant churches in confusion, disputation, etc., opposed the doc- 
trines preached here, ridiculed the whole work of the revival, formed a considerable 
party, etc., etc." — McGready 's " Posthumous Works," p. viii. 

2Cf. Gillett, Vol. II., p. 159. 



CHAPTER VII. 



A Notable Quartet. 
1818. 

There were now eleven congregations in the state. 
Except Mr. Balch's society on Turman's Creek all were 
within the oldest neighborhoods, and none ventured far 
from the Wabash and the Ohio. The roll of settled labor- 
ers is a short one, comprising but five names — Scott, 
Robinson, Dickey, Todd, and Balch. The year 1818 
makes a most valuable addition to the force, bringing two 
remarkable itinerants, Orin Fowler from the Connecticut 
Missionary Society and Ravaud K. Rodgers from the 
General Assembly ; besides William W. Martin, another 
Kentucky volunteer, and Isaac Reed from New England, 
both of whom became citizens of Indiana, laborious, influ- 
ential, and useful in an eminent degree. In this quartet of 
1 818 there was a variety of gifts and graces as picturesque 
as can well be imagined. If they could have been seen 
together before the blazing logs of a frontier cabin the 
dullest observer would have hugged the chimney corner to 
watch their diversity of manner and mind. Mirthfulness 
and sobriety, loquacity and reticence, a polished urbanity 
and a homely eccentricity, would have been quickly appar- 
ent, with scholarship and piety quite evenly distributed. 
Of the four, Mr. Martin was the first to reach the state. 
He only left it for the better country. If providence had 
sent William Wirt to hear "Father Martin" preach, the 
famous description of James Waddel's eloquence might 
fitly have had a companion-piece. For many years he was 

101 



102 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the popular favorite throughout the southern half of 
Indiana, and his name was sufficient to draw to any rustic 
platform or pulpit an immense throng of admirers, accus- 
tomed to bow before the energy and pathos of his oratory. 

William W. Martin, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, was 
born in Bedford County, Pa., August 12, 1781. He was 
one of four children, all of whom became useful members 
of the Presbyterian Church. The piety of his parents 
made early and deep impressions on his character. He 
was accustomed to refer to the solemn reflections awakened 
by a sermon on ' ' The Last Judgment ' ' which he heard his 
father read one wintry day before he was eight years old. 
The regular observance of family worship, and especially 
the instructions and example of his mother, exercised a 
power over his childhood which he often gratefully 
acknowledged, and at the age of ten he had already begun 
to hope that he might become a Christian minister. 
Meanwhile, however, the family had removed to West- 
moreland County, Pa., and in the spring of 1794 they 
sought a home in the wilds of Kentucky, the depreciation 
of continental money having reduced them from comfort to 
poverty. Notwithstanding the influence of reckless com- 
panions there was a renewal of former religious impressions 
when he was about sixteen years of age and he became a 
member of the Presbyterian Church at Paris, Ky., then 
under the care of the Rev. Samuel Rannels. During the 
summer he wrought upon a farm and in the winter at the 
cooper's trade. The desire to become a minister of the 
gospel was still cherished, and at the age of twenty-three 
he entered Bourbon Academy at Paris, under the precep- 
torship of the Rev. John Lyle. There he remained five 
years, and then for two years pursued a course of theology 
under the same instructor. Receiving licensure from the 
West Lexington Presbytery in October, 181 2, he settled in 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 103 

Winchester, Clark County, and was ordained in the fall of 
18 1 3. This first pastorate he held for six years, being also 
engaged a part of the time as teacher and editor. 

But Mr. Martin was restless under the shadow of slav- 
ery. Neither his judgment nor conscience approved it, 
and he resolved to seek a settlement in a free state. He 
first crossed the Ohio upon a brief tour of observation in 
1817, 1 and in May of the year following removed perma- 
nently to Indiana. Taking charge of the congregations of 
Livonia, Salem, and Blue River, he resided for a year at 
Salem in the family of Mr. Young, an elder, when he 
removed to the neighborhood of Livonia, securing there a 
little farm. It was in this immediate vicinity that most of 
his subsequent life was spent, for though he several times 
went to other fields, the old flock always called him back, 
and it never was in his heart to refuse them. Livonia was 
his home. Until his formal pastoral settlement over the 
Livonia church in April, 1821, the three congregations 
shared his labors equally, but from that date the Blue River 
society was entrusted to other hands. After thirteen years 
of continuous service at Livonia Mr. Martin finally asked 
Presbytery to release him from that charge, his service at 
Salem having ceased two or three years before. 2 He 
removed in 1831 to Paoli, preaching there for a year, and 
at the same time serving the Orleans church, which he had 
himself organized September 27, 1818. His subsequent 
removals were to Princeton, Gibson County, where he 
labored one year ; to West Salem, where and in adjacent 
fields he preached until June, 1834 ; and to South Han- 
over, whose pulpit he supplied until the autumn of 1835. 
It must not be supposed, however, that Mr. Martin's influ- 
ence was confined to his small rural parishes. Through- 

1 He then administered the communion in a grove near the village of Salem. 

2 The Rev. Benjamin C. Cressy, a polished preacher and a devoted man, came from 
New England and assumed the care of the Salem congregation in the autumn of 1829. 



104 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

out this period, and through his whole career in Indiana, 
he was a tireless bishop, traveling far and near to serve the 
entire Presbyterian community. 1 

Since his departure from Livonia his former flock had 
been shepherdless, but their bleating was not in vain. In 
November, 1835, he resumed his pastorate, and on the 
twenty-fifth of November, 1837, occurred his second 
installation over this church. Eighty acres of land, one 
mile southwest of Livonia, were now presented to him by 
the congregation, and there he reestablished his hospitable 
home. Six years later the pastoral relation was again dis- 
solved (April 5, 1843) that he might remove to Bloom- 
ington and superintend the education of his sons. He 
occupied the pulpit in that place until April, 1845, when 
he once more came back to Livonia, continuing his minis- 
try to the local society and to the contiguous neighbor- 
hoods until his death, which occurred September 10, 
1 850. 2 His body rests in the Livonia cemetery. 

The position of Mr. Martin among the Indiana pioneers 
was unique. He was essentially an orator. Of slender 
form, quite six feet in height, and of fair complexion, he 
was in youth a very handsome man and was beautiful even 
in age. He was emotional in his nature, full of senti- 
ment and of tears. His voice was both sweet and powerful. 
It is not strange that such gifts commanded the attention of 
the populace upon the frontier. Nor is it surprising that 
under the control of a piety uncommonly warm and true he 
was sometimes, in the pulpit, and especially during the 
sacramental seasons in the woods which captivated his 
heart and stirred him to the depths, in the highest degree 
eloquent. Earlier academical advantages, and in later life 

1 In these self-denying labors he spent his entire private fortune, received mainly from 
his wife, and amounting to ten or twelve thousand dollars. 

2 During his ministry in Indiana Mr. Martin organized the churches of Franklin, 
Orleans, Paoli, Palestine, Bono, Princeton, West Salem, and Vincennes, assisting also 
in the organization of the First Church at Indianapolis. 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



larger opportunities for reflection, would no doubt have 
pruned his fancy, but there are abundant proofs that he 
was accustomed to sway the multitudes at his will by his 
impassioned addresses. 

Father Martin's face was striking — large, serious, at times sad 
and stern, but usually genial in expression, often lighted up by a 
remarkably tender, wistful, and loving look, as though secretly 
yearning for your salvation. ... In practical preaching or exhor- 
tations upon some of the great doctrines of the cross and in revival 
labors, he had few superiors in his day. His manner was grave, 
solemn, always earnest and often impassioned, having the "accent 
of conviction, " so transparently sincere that every one who heard 
him knew that he himself had felt in his own heart the power of 
the truth. It was while attending the meeting of Salem Presby- 
tery at Livonia in 1841 that one of the brethren described to me a 
scene during the sessions of the old Indiana Synod at Vincennes 
in early times, when Father Martin preached on Hebrews xiii. : 
13 : "Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the camp bear- 
ing his reproach." His heart was so full of the theme, so vivid 
was his conception of Jesus suffering without the gate, that he was 
transported, and transported and electrified the whole assembly. 
The Synod was melted to tears and there was audible sobbing in 
every part of the house. 1 

Perhaps the prayers, even more than the preaching, of 
Mr. Martin will be recalled by those who remember him, 
as characteristic of the man. His prayer before the sermon 
commonly consumed three quarters of an hour. ' 1 I have 
timed him," says one, "when his prayer lasted an hour 
and five minutes." On another occasion a son of Father 
Dickey measured a prayer that was an hour and thirty 
minutes long. 

He seemed like Paul ; whether in the body or out of the body he 
could not tell. His prayers were full of the letter and the spirit of 
Scripture. Petition, confession, thanksgiving, and praise, ex- 
pressed in the language of the Bible, poured forth like water from 
a living spring. The Bible was at his tongue's end. And oh, what 

1 MS. letter of the Rev. William M. Cheever, who was a student at Hanover while 
Mr. Martin supplied the pulpit there in 1834-5. 



106 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

unction there was in his counsels and prayers by the side of the 
afflicted and the dying. Many a dear dying saint before dissolu- 
tion has seen the gates of the City of God opening to the touch of 
Father Martin's prayer. 

At the earliest opportunity, like other Presbyterian pio- 
neers, he established a school, with his own means erecting 
a log house for its accommodation near his dwelling. His 
own classical attainments enabled him to prepare for the 
ministry and for the other learned professions a number of 
young men who became prominent in important stations. 
The school was long known as ' ' the Log College. ' ' In 
this work Mr. Martin was greatly assisted by his wife, who 
carried it on uninterruptedly during his frequent and pro- 
tracted missionary journeys. 

Of the hospitality which marked the early times the min- 
ister's cabin near Livonia furnished a beautiful illustration. 
There was a tavern in the village, but it was said that the 
Presbyterian preacher had most of the custom. The Rev. 
John Crozier recalls an incident which pleasantly discloses 
the interior of the manse. 

One Monday night, returning from Paoli, I stayed at Mr. Martin's. 
He had been in the harvest field but had come in early, and like 
Abraham had taken from the flock or the herd and prepared with 
his own hands what soon became a savory meal. During the eve- 
ning the family and guests were gathered in the little parlor, busily 
engaged in conversation. In the middle of the room stood a small 
square table on which were a Bible, one or two books of reference, 
a big bundle of sermons, writing materials, and a tallow candle. 
By this table sat Father Martin, with a high leghorn hat, worn to 
shade his eyes, and amidst the hum of talk he began his studies. 
He was soon quite absorbed in thought. After an hour or more 
of silent meditation, he suddenly threw up his glasses and asked 
his clerical visitors whether they knew what was the color of the 
Apostle John's hair. One of the gentlemen had never heard the 
question suggested before. Another thought the New Testament 
was non-committal as to the color of anybody's hair. The younger 
people ventured to express no opinion and the inquiry was soon 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



handed back to the questioner, who at once said that John's hair 
must have been black. He then began roguishly to read a pas- 
sage he had just found in one of his youthful manuscripts referring 
to the "raven locks " of the apostle now " blanched by the frosts 
of fourscore winters." 

Mr. Martin certainly belonged to the tribe of Levi. His 
three brothers-in-law were the Revs. Samuel R., Thomas, 
and William A. P. Alexander, the latter for many years a 
successful missionary in the Sandwich Islands. His only 
sons became ministers — Samuel N. D., Dr. William A. P., 
and Dr. Claudius B. H. Martin. The two former went to 
China, where one still remains, the accomplished president 
of the Imperial University. Not to be outdone, five out 
of the seven daughters entrapped Presbyterian ministers, 
and Drs. Newell, Venable, and Matthews, and Messrs. 
Camborn and Morton have added their Levitical luster to 
the family renown. 1 

Isaac Reed was born in Granville, Washington County, 
N. Y., August 27, 1787. Therewith his parents, Abra- 
ham and Thankful Reed, his early childhood was passed. 
He entered the junior class in Middlebury College, Ver- 
mont, and graduated from that institution in 181 2. 2 After 
completing the college course his plans were seriously 
embarrassed, as they had previously been, by the delicacy 
of his health. He attempted to teach, securing a position 
in the academy at Jamaica, L. I., but in a few weeks was 
compelled to rest. December 28, 181 2, he entered the 
law office of John C. Parker, Esq. , at Granville. A second 
time making the attempt to endure the labor of the school- 

1 It will be seen that there were attractions for guests at the Livonia parsonage, and 
Father Martin was fond of making the young theologians who came to his cabin go up 
into the pulpit too. On one occasion three of them, hiding in separate corners of the 
meeting-house, were led to the desk, directed to " make their own arrangements," and 
then abandoned to their fate. 

2 Another member of the class, the Rev. Stephen Bliss, also became a missionary in 
the Synod of Indiana. Cf. " Life and Times of Stephen Bliss," p. 90. 



I08 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



room he was again compelled to desist, and resumed his 
legal studies in the office of Messrs. Bradish & Sedgwick, 
New York City. 1 With improving health, however, his 
original preference for the ministry as a profession was con- 
firmed, and while again conducting a school on Long 
Island he began the study of divinity under the advice of 
the Rev. Dr. Woolworth, of Bridgehampton. He was taken 
under the care of Long Island Presbytery, but, removing 
to Connecticut, concluded his theological preparations at 
Norwalk under the tuition of the Rev. Roswell R. Swan, 2 
and received licensure at North Stamford, May 29, 181 6, 
from the Fairfield Congregational Association. At Nor- 
wich, near Utica, N. Y. , as a missionary of the Oneida 
Female Missionary Society, and at Manlius, N. Y., his 
labors were especially useful for brief periods. But serious 
pulmonary symptoms reappeared and his thoughts were 
turned toward the Southwest. Mounting his horse he 
traveled from Manlius, over the Allegheny Mountains, and 
in four months made a journey of nine hundred miles. 
His first resting-place was in central Kentucky. The 
month after his arrival he was "severely attacked," 
December, 181 7, " with a bilious fever," 3 and quite natur- 
ally he thinks himself ' ' greatly deceived respecting the 
climate." He was soon able, however, to establish a 
projected "preaching circuit" and early in the February 
following had gone over it once. He says : 

It includes two Sabbaths at Lancaster, one at Point Lick, two at 
Richmond, another at Point Lick, and the next at Lancaster 
again. In these two counties there are four Presbyterian churches 
but no minister able to preach. I have compassion on them and 
have concluded to cast my lot among them for the winter. 4 

The "lot" certainly did not prove to be lucrative, and 

1 Cf. Reed's " Christian Traveller," p. 15. 

2 Cf. "Christian Traveller," p. 14. 
S " Christian Traveller," p. 42. 

4 " Christian Traveller," p. 57. 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. IO9 

as the good man had been entirely at his own charges 
since leaving New York he was compelled after a few 
weeks to relinquish the field. Near Lancaster, March 19, 
1 818, in the pious but somewhat unsophisticated vein 
which apparently characterized him everywhere, he wrote : 

After preaching the last Sabbath I dined in town and saw a 
large collection of blacks about a grocery, swearing and contend- 
ing ; and as I came out of town a large number of white boys and 
some young men were playing ball in the seminary yard. Oh, 
how is my heart pained with the immoral and impious ways of 
people here. To see such things take place immediately after I 
have been preaching, in the most solemn manner of which I am 
capable, how discouraging it is ! 1 

Mr. Reed now resumed his travels, preaching in Ken- 
tucky wherever opportunity was offered, until July 23, in 
company with the Rev. Dr. Thomas Cleland, he crossed 
for the first time into Indiana and found a welcome at the 
house of Dr. D. McClure, in Madison. 2 Explorations of 
the adjacent country immediately began. At New Albany 
he spent five weeks. " The town was rude in appearance, 
had few good houses, but was fast improving and contained 
seven hundred inhabitants." 3 Brought hither, as he 
thinks, by providence, the naive and prayerful ejaculation 
recorded in his journal is, " O that I maybe submissive !" 
Here overtures are made for his settlement, and having 
returned to Kentucky, to be ordained by Transylvania 
Presbytery, in Dr. Cleland' s New Providence meeting- 
house, Saturday, October 10, before the close of the month 
his stated ministry in New Albany begins. 

1 " Christian Traveller," p. 58. 

2 In a MS. memorandum Mr. Reed makes the following reference to the pioneers 
already on the ground: " Six Presbyterian ministers, viz.: Wm. Robinson, very infirm ; 
John Todd, mild and but little known ; W. W. Martin, active, eloquent, and popular; 
J. M. Dickey; Samuel T. Scott; James Balch, an old and blunt man." 

3 " Christian Traveller," p. 79. The types here make the figures seventeen hundred, 
but this seems to be an error, as nine years later (see p. 222) the population is estimated 
at tfz^-^hundred. 



IIO EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

The engagement was for one year. The salary was five hun- 
dred dollars. Fifteen members composed the Presbyterian 
church. Over most of the town plat lay thickly the trunks of 
trees which had been felled but were not removed. There was a 
little frame covered in for a Methodist meeting-house ; the Presby- 
terians had none. But during the year a house of worship was 
built. A considerable addition was made to the membership. 
And a Sabbath School of sixty members, the first ever formed in 
Indiana, was gathered. 1 

Thus far the missionary had no help from abroad, but at 
the close of his labors at New Albany, 2 he obtained a com- 
mission from the Connecticut Missionary Society. Again 
he became "the Christian traveler," preaching in Ken- 
tucky and for several weeks in Granville, Ohio. On 
Christmas Day, 1819, in Danville, Ky., his hand "and 
the hand of Elinor Young were joined in the marriage 
covenant, in the presence of the minister, the Rev. Samuel 
K. Nelson, the family of Mrs. (widow) Young, an attend- 
ing young gentleman and two female friends." 3 He 
preached two years at Nicholasville during that period, in 
the autumn of 1821 crossing the Ohio once more upon a 
mission tour of about four weeks to Owen County and the 
frontier of Indiana. Having completed a journey to Phila- 
delphia, as commissioner to the General Assembly, chiefly 
upon horseback and in a "dearborn" wagon, he started 
again, September 25, 1822, for the region which seemed 
to attract him from all his wanderings, though here pov- 
erty and hardship and suffering united to cool his ardor 
and try his faith in God. During the four weeks' excur- 
sion the year before he had wisely made his way with his 

1 " Christian Traveller," pp. 86-9. 

2 The considerable salary promised here was not paid. The little band had promised 
far beyond their ability. 

3 " Christian Traveller," pp. 98, 99. An older sister of Mrs. Reed became the wife of 
the Rev. Dr. Baynard R. Hall, another pioneer of our church in Indiana. See " Chris- 
tian Traveller," p. in. In Hall's " New Purchase " Reed figures as the " Rev. James 
Hillsbury " (seep. 86). 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



Ill 



brother-in-law, president of the State Seminary at Bloom- 
ington, " through the woods by the forks of the Eel River, 
to the land office in Terre Haute, . . . and entered a half 
quarter-section of land." 1 Here he arrived in October, 
1822, 2 and "settled," if a man who was half his time in 
the saddle could be said to ' ' settle ' ' anywhere. 

In explaining the motives of his return to Indiana Mr. 
Reed unconsciously reveals his own indefatigable and un- 
selfish mind : 

As none others had given themselves up to settle in those new 
parts of the state the writer resolved to venture forward and lead 
in this way. His scheme for improvement was this : to locate 
with a little infant church already formed, to instruct and encour- 
age them, to appropriate one half of his ministerial labors to their 
benefit, and to receive from them in return as much salary as they 
should be able to raise, paid in their personal labor or in the 
produce of their farms. The balance of his time he held to be 
devoted to missionary service, and his plan and his practice were 
to spend alternately one week at home and the next abroad. The 
preaching places were distant from each other and most of them 
distant from the writer's residence and charge. The consequence 
was that to be punctual in the attendance upon his appointments, 
and to keep up the hopes of the Presbyterian people, subjected 
him to a vast deal of riding. Respecting this plan and this field of 
action, before his removal from Kentucky, he wrote to a friend, a 
student of theology at Princeton, "that it opened to the view of 
his mind such a field for Christian enterprise and usefulness as 
almost raised him above himself." 3 

But on the "half quarter-section" there was no 
dwelling. 

I found much difficulty to obtain labor from the people, they 
being hurried with their own work. As far as my own personal 
labor could supply this deficiency it was supplied. But with 
all my efforts the building progressed slowly, and to increase my 
difficulty the winter closed in early. We entered our house 

1 " Christian Traveller," p. 121. 

2 " Christian Traveller," p. 139. 

3 " Christian Traveller," pp. 138, 139. 



112 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERI ANISM. 



the week before Christmas and occupied it that winter, without a 
loft, with no plastering between the logs, above the joist plates, 
and with a large wooden chimney-place cut out of the end of the 
house and built up a little above the mantel-piece. 1 Wood was 
plenty and well did it need to be for a situation like that. Yet 
many were the comforts which were mingled with those difficul- 
ties, though the trial sat heavily on my Elinor. And indeed I 
have often wondered since that time how I could have ever had 
resolution enough to have voluntarily brought myself into that 
situation. But now necessity pushed us on and hope cheered us 
with the return of spring and a better prospect in the future. Nor 
do I remember that I ever felt a wish that I had not ventured 
upon this service. It always appeared to me to be worthy of my 
trials in it. 2 

Is not this a bit of real heroism ? Possibly there may be 
too many clergymen. But there is no danger that there 
will ever be too many self-forgetting men, ready to imitate 
such an example. 

The approach of summer must have had a peculiar wel- 
come after such a winter in such a hut. The only creature 
at the 1 ' Cottage of Peace ' ' that could have imagined 
"December as pleasant as May" was the missionary's 
horse. He had at least had a rest. But with spring 
came work again, the usual interminable preaching tours. 
Mr. Reed is now in correspondence with the "United 
Domestic Missionary Society." In August occurs his 
installation as pastor of the Bethany church. 3 To this 
society he gives half his time and during the alternate 
weeks traverses the whole wilderness around. The horse 
is not to be congratulated now. The mud, the forests, the 
swollen fords, 4 the widely scattered congregations, make 
the necessary labor severe. Thus three years go by. Mr. 

1 This is the " Cottage of Peace " of Mr. Reed's book. 

2 " Christian Traveller," pp. 139, 140. 

3 " Christian Traveller," p. 142. 

4 An amusing description of Mr. Reed — " Bishop Hillsbury " — is given by his brother- 
in-law in the first edition of " The New Purchase," Vol. I., pp. 278-S3. 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



113 



Reed organized more churches than any other man. 1 He 
is at Salem, at the first meeting of the Salem Presbytery, 
April, 1824. During the year he travels twenty-four hun- 
dred and eighty miles. 2 At "sacramental meetings," licen- 
sures, ordinations, installations, he is sure to be present, in 
every corner of the southern half of the state. The exposure 
and suffering implied we can now scarcely conceive. 

Meanwhile the missionary's pen is busy. He sends com- 
munications to eastern newspapers. He prints his first 
little book. He contributes to the local press. 3 Other 
publications are issued under the sanction of Presbytery. 
A dedication sermon is published. 4 He diligently keeps 
the journal which now constitutes ' 1 The Christian Trav- 
eller." The log house in Owen County is the center of a 
most tireless activity. Every opened path of usefulness is 
pursued to the end. 

Until the close of 1825 these labors continue. Mr. Reed 
is then released from his pastoral charge. For two years 
* ' he had not received a dollar in money from his congre- 
gation." The claims of his family required him to 
4 ' depend on farming as a business ' ' or seek another field. 
He still clings to the Indiana woods. Possibly he may 
move " further up White River." His journal describes 
his tour in the spring of 1826. 5 This proves to be his last 
missionary work before leaving Indiana. The conclusion 
he finally reaches is to return with his family to the East, 6 

1 See "A Ministry of Forty Years in Indiana," by the Rev. James H. Johnston, p. 5 ; 
" Quarter-Century Discourse," by the Rev. P. S. Cleland, p. 14. 

2 " Christian Traveller," p. 145. 

3 See Western Censor and Emigrants' 1 Guide, Indianapolis, June 7, 1824, and July 
20, 1824. 

* "Christian Traveller," pp. 144, 147, 148, 150. 

5 " Christian Traveller," pp. 177-84. 

6 It is probable that Mrs. Reed's judgment was not opposed to the removal Her 
mother, Mrs. Ann Young, the " Mrs. Glenville" of Hall's " New Purchase," Chapter 
XXXII., had recently died at the "Cottage of Peace." In the wilderness there was little 
opportunity for the education of her children. This latter consideration would have 
great weight with one whose ambition was as persevering as hers. It is said that at one 
time hopes were entertained of a brilliant dramatic career for one of her children. 



ii 4 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



a congregation at Moriah, N. Y,, having desired him to 
visit them. His allusion to the early stages of this journey 
of a thousand miles strongly suggests the discourage- 
ments with which the missionary had been accustomed to 
contend. 

It was Wednesday, the 31st of May, when we left Indianapolis 
and entered the woods in the road to Centreville. To a traveler 
with a wheel carriage, in so new a road as this, through a coun- 
try where the settlements are so few and distant, some difficul- 
ties might be expected at any season of the year, but at present 
they were numerous and truly discouraging. The country is 
moist and the soil very rich, and the road but partially cut out. 
Over the small streams log causeways had been made, but the 
high waters of the spring season had raised them and floated the 
logs in every direction, so that at these places the cut-out way was 
utterly impassable. The resort was to turn into the woods and 
choose some other place to venture through the waters and wet 
grounds, till we were beyond the entire causeway, or at least the 
raised part of it. Often at these places, and at others, from the 
length of the stretches of deep mud, had Mrs. Reed to get out 
with the youngest child in her arms, and the oldest walking with 
her, and thus to make her way on foot, while I had to lead the 
horse by the check-rein, walking before him, and frequently with 
the mud and water deeper than my boots. In many places it 
appeared extremely doubtful when the horse went in whether he 
would ever be able to come out. Thus we traveled for three 
days, in one of which, starting at eight o'clock in the morning 
and traveling with the utmost diligence till sunset, we made only 
thirteen miles. And this was the second day of June. 1 

The travelers safely reached their destination, however, 
and Mr. Reed made an engagement for five years with the 
Moriah congregation. His letters in the New York 
Observer show his continued attachment to the scene of his 
former toil, whither he was soon to return. After a single 
year the Moriah engagement was terminated, and he 
looked westward once more, coming, in 1828, to Bloom- 
ington, where his brother-in-law, Professor Hall, still 



1 " Christian Traveller," pp. 233, 234. 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



resided. This place 1 1 the wanderer, " as he styled himself, 
made the center of the usual missionary labor for a number 
of years. He left Bloomington in the fall of 1835 and 
transferred his family to South Hanover, having himself 
accepted an agency for the college. A little later he was 
conducting a school in Kentucky, near Shelbyville. He is 
then successively at various points in Indiana, Kentucky, 
Ohio, and Illinois, until in the spring of 1854 he removed 
to Waterloo, N. Y. , and immediately after to Auburn. 
During all these latter years, aided by his wife, he had 
joined the work of teaching to that of a missionary. A 
severe winter now seriously threatened his health, and he 
came West again to Olney, 111. Here his family remained 
while he moved on to Missouri. Connecting himself with 
the Presbytery there, he was assigned to a mission field at 
Versailles ; but returning to his family at Olney he suffered 
a severe hemorrhage of the lungs, and imprudently at- 
tempting to fulfil an engagement to preach, was attacked 
with typhoid pneumonia, and after a brief struggle died 
Thursday night, January 14, 1858. A plain marble slab 
marks his resting-place in the Olney cemetery, and bears 
the inscription, ''The wanderer here finds rest." His 
widow survived until May 9, 1869, when she fell asleep at 
the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Williams, near Put- 
nam ville, Ind. 

In person Mr. Reed was tall and spare, with dark hair 
and blue eyes. He enjoyed society. "I am a great 
talker," said one who knew him well, 1 "and he talked 

1 Dr. Henry Little. It was in the winter of 1830, when Dr. Little was making his first 
journey through the state, that a characteristic incident occurred. Says Dr. Little : 
" Finding Mr. Reed at Bloomington, he told me that he was to go to Bedford, to marry 
a couple, the next day, and that I must go with him. At five o'clock on a December 
morning we breakfasted and were off. At an Indian wigwam we halted and talked 
a while. Father Reed, having long yarns to tell, lost his saddle-bags afterward, and 
had to go back two miles to find them. Just at sunset, having traveled twenty-eight 
miles in all, we reached Bedford and went to the double log cabin where the preacher 
was expected. It was full of company. The family was from New Jersey. At seven 
o'clock the wedding came off and we sat down to supper. Everything was nice and in 



Il6 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

two thirds more than I." He was perhaps lacking in 
shrewdness. For practical affairs he had little aptitude. 
Sometimes human nature surprised and baffled him. In 
social meetings he would often speak wonderfully well, 
though his ordinary preaching was not especially attract- 
ive. He stooped and leaned in the pulpit, the thumb 
of his right hand hooked under his waistcoat at the 
suspender button. But ' ' he had as little selfishness as 
any of the unselfish men about him — would do anything 
for the Master's sake." " He was laborious, persevering, 
patient, pure-minded, affectionate, and simple in his tastes 
and public ministrations." 1 "He performed prodigies of 
labor as an itinerant. ' ' 2 His life was one of 1 ' arduous and 
unrequited toil." 3 His monument he reared while laying 
the foundations of the church in the wilderness. It was in 
this early period, before his almost aimless ' ' wandering ' ' 
began, that his usefulness was most assured. 

Orin Fowler was another of the quartet of missionaries 
reaching Indiana in 1818. The eldest son and sixth child of 
Captain Amos 4 and Rebecca (Dewey) Fowler, he was born at 
Lebanon, Conn., July 29, 1791. In boyhood he worked on 
his father's farm, though when sixteen and seventeen years 
of age he was for two winters engaged in teaching school, 
the inevitable resource of young New Englanders. He fitted 
for college under the instruction of his pastor, the Rev. Mr. 
Ripley, and entered Williams College in the autumn of 
181 1. At the end of the first term he took his dismission, 

abundance. But after I had got one little biscuit, the embarrassed bride and groom 
shoved back their chairs ; others, equally confused, followed their example ; no sugges- 
tion of our emptiness came from unworldly Father Reed, and I was too much a 
stranger to protest ; so the groaning table was almost untouched, and I had to go to bed 
hungry as a bear. Next morning, however, I made up for lost time." 

1 MS. of the Rev. Ransom Hawley. 

2 " Life and Times of Stephen Bliss," p. 90. 

3 " Quarter-Century Discourse," by the Rev. P. S. Cleland, p. 14. 

4 A soldier of the Revolution. 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



II 7 



and after studying again for a while under Mr. Ripley's 
direction, and also for one term at the academy at Col- 
chester, he entered the sophomore class at Yale College in 
October, 181 2. Here he maintained an excellent stand- 
ing, being distinguished in the more solid and practical 
courses of study. 1 A few months previous to his grad- 
uation he accepted the preceptorship of the academy 
at Fairfield, Conn., and held the place, discharging its 
duties with great fidelity and acceptance, until the autumn 
of 1 8 16. He then presented his resignation in order to 
devote himself more exclusively to theological studies, Dr. 
Humphrey, then minister of Fairfield, afterward president 
of Amherst College, becoming his instructor. He was 
licensed to preach on the 14th of October, 181 7, by the 
Association of the Western District of Fairfield County. 

Having preached occasionally in different places, chiefly 
in Fairfield County, but without any reference to settle- 
ment, he decided March, 18 18, to attempt a missionary 
tour in the West. With this in view he was ordained at 
Farmington, at a meeting of the North Association of 
Hartford County, on the 3d of June following, and on the 
same day rode twenty-one miles toward his field. 2 

For the proposed service Mr. Fowler was admirably fit- 
ted. A sound judgment, a tenacious will, system, industry, 
and uncommon bodily vigor would all be requisite, and it 
will be seen that these were among the striking features of 
his character. ' ' He had rather a large frame, ' ' says his 
college classmate, Dr. Sprague, ' ' indicating what he really 
possessed, a vigorous constitution." 3 Dr. Shepherd, his 
friend and neighbor, declares that he seldom if ever knew 
a pastor "who could perform unremittingly such an 

1 Among his classmates at Yale were the Rev. Drs. Sprague and Nevins, and Judge 
Jessup of Pennsylvania. 

2 Thus far I have followed the statements in Sprague, originally furnished by Mrs. 
Fowler, and after her husband's death reprinted in his " History of Fall River." 

3 " Annals," Vol. II., p. 650. 



n8 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



amount of labor. ' ' 1 Young Fowler was just the man to 
ride into the woods alone and lay the foundations of 
Christian society there. Throughout his journey he care- 
fully kept a diary, precise and practical in every page. 
The faded manuscript has been recovered. A few extracts 
will best reproduce the early days, at the same time that 
they fittingly unfold Mr. Fowler's character. 

Wednesday, June 3d, 18 18. Left Farmington and rode twenty- 
one miles to Barkhamsted. 

Sabbath. Preached twice at Canajoharie to an attentive audi- 
ence in the Baptist house. 

Sabbath, June 14th. Spent the day at Seneca Falls with Mr. 
Stark and preached twice from Isaiah 55th, 6th, and Isaiah 5th, 
4th. 2 Received from individuals two dollars for the missionary 
society. 

Tuesday. Rode to Murray, thirty-nine miles, an unpleasant 
country. Passed the growing village of Rochester, and had an 
opportunity to converse with one young person. 

Wednesday. Rode forty-four miles to Cambria. Saw several 
deer. 

Thursday. Rode forty miles to Black Rock in Buffalo. Passed 
Queenstown and Chippewa battle-ground and saw the soldiers' 
bones. 

Friday. Rode on the border of Lake Erie to Hamburg, 
twenty-two miles. Passed village of Buffalo, a lonely way. 

Saturday. Rode to Portland, thirty-eight miles. Passed the 
awful four-miles woods. 

Tuesday, June joth. Rode to Plain, thirty-five miles. Passed 
Wooster, a pleasant county-seat. Very poor country. Providen- 
tially lodged with a Presbyterian family who gave me my fare, and 
with them I attended family duties. 

Thursday. Rode thirty-four miles to Harrison, through an 
awfully muddy country, and woods the most of the way. Was 
met near the middle of an eight-miles wood in a terrible thunder 
storm. But the Lord preserved me. 

Sabbath, July 12th. Preached in Oxford. 

1 "Annals," Vol. II., p. 651. 

2 The MS. of the latter discourse is before me, its first page covered with memoranda 
of dates and localities, indicating its frequent extemporaneous repetition upon this jour- 
ney and especially in Indiana. It seems to have been his first written sermon. 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



HQ 



Monday. Rode through Brookville in Indiana to a town on 
Whitewater, twenty-six miles. 

Friday. Passed through Vevay, where wine is made by the 
Swiss, twenty-five miles to a place on the mountains near Madi- 
son. Was overtaken by hard rain and stopped at a very misera- 
ble hut. Oh, how many poor creatures have I seen. How many 
destitute of this world's goods and perishing for lack of vision. 
Was lost in the wood, but providentially found the way to a Con- 
necticut family, where by lying on the floor I lodged comfortably. 

Sabbath. Preached (in Madison) to a crowded and solemn 
audience. 

Monday. Rode to the skirt of the town and preached. Re- 
ceived one dollar from Judge Dunn and Elder Simington. 

Saturday, August 1st. Rode five miles to Paoli and had oppor- 
tunity to hear preaching by Mr. Martin. 

Tuesday. Rode fourteen miles to Salem and preached. 
Lodged with brother Martin, an excellent man. 1 

Thursday. Rode fifteen miles to Brownstown. Visited the 
school under the care of Mr. Kenshaw. Held a long conversation 
with two drunkards. One confessed that he was miserable, that 
he had the horrors. The youth cried when he asked if he could 
yet be saved. 

Monday, August 10th. Visited a school. Found the instructor 
sitting with an ox goad in his hand, so large that he could reach 
every scholar. 

Tuesday. Rode thirty-four miles to Lexington, eighteen of 
them through the woods. Called at one house and saw a woman 
rocking her infant in a little log, shaped like a pig-trough. 

Thursday. Rode ten miles to Judge Dunn's and found brother 
Reed of Connecticut, who preached toward evening. 2 

Friday. Visited the school under the care of Dr. Maxwell, 
which is large and interesting. 

Saturday. Visited the school under the care of Mr. McKey. 
Found them accurate in the catechism as far as they had gone. 

Sabbath. Preached in Judge Dunn's barn. 

1 It will be found that the journal is very sparing in epithets. This " excellent " is a 
rarity, as Father Martin was. 

2 " I felt happy to-day in meeting at W. Dunn's, Esq., the Rev. O. Fowler, mission- 
ary from Connecticut. We had been acquainted there when students of divinity and 
were licensed by the same association. . . . I preached and he prayed after sermon. 
In prayer he was able, devout, and solemn. . . . O that many like him may be sent 
into the harvest in these parts."— Reed's " Christian Traveller," p. 75. See also pp. 
96, 97, 112. 



120 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Thursday, August 28th. Rode to Mr. McCartney's, where I 
preached. Baptized his children, eight in number. The names of 
James and Jane McCartney's children, this day baptized, are 
Polly, Margaret (Peggy), Sally, Martha, John, James, William, 
Jane, and Miriam Dunn. 1 From there I rode five miles to Captain 
Graham's. Passed the village of Mount Pleasant, which consists 
of one log house about fifteen feet square, and one other log 
building about half raised, with about half an acre of partially 
cleared ground. There is a sugar camp between the village and 
Captain Graham's. 

Friday, September 18th. Rode thirty-four miles to Judge 
McGee's, Velona. Went till four o'clock without food or drink, 
and saw but one house for a distance of twenty-two miles. Had 
much trouble on account of high water. Lost my horse in the 
woods, but found him again after traveling about three miles 
through the mud. How great are my fatigues and trials, but the 
Lord delivers me at all times. One family visit. 

Sabbath, September 20th. Administered the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper to the Brownstown church, there being only four 
communicants. It was the first sacrament ever administered in 
Brownstown and the first Presbyterian sacrament ever held in 
Jackson County. 

Tuesday. Rode twenty miles by Brother Martin's and Salem to 
Livonia, a village consisting of about twenty log cabins. There is 
not a shingled roof in the place. 

Sabbath, September 27th. Assisted in organizing the Concord 
church, 2 which consists of eleven members : Mr. James Fulton 
and his wife Catharine, Mr. John Magner and his wife Sally, Mr. 
James Donnell and his wife Elizabeth, Mrs. Nancy Fisher and her 
son Telek and daughter Celia, Mr. Moses Mather and his wife 
Caty. Then administered the sacrament of the Supper in connec- 
tion with brother Martin, and preached. Rode three miles to Mr. 
John Magner's. This is Orange County. The first Presbyterian 
communion in the county. 

Friday, October gth. Sat with Presbytery at Charlestown and 
preached in the evening. 

Friday, October /6th. Rode five miles to Mr. Bergen's and 
preached to an interesting congregation. After preaching pro- 

1 The missionary's record is equally explicit on each similar occasion. The names, 
and frequently the nicknames, are religiously preserved. 

a This church Dickey's " History " does not mention. It was afterward merged in the 
neighboring churches of Orleans and Paoli. 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



121 



ceeded to form a church. Commenced with prayer ; then read 
the certificates of such as had them and heard the relation of 
others and questioned them on doctrines as well as on experience. 
Led the brethren to the choice of three elders, and it appeared 
that Christopher Bergen, Samuel Ryker, and Jeduthan Dodd were 
elected. Postponed further consideration till to-morrow morning 
at 10 o'clock. 

Saturday. Met and held further consultation and appointed 
a clerk. At 12 preached to a large, solemn congregation. After 
preaching proceeded to read the Confession of Faith, and install 
the elders, they having been ordained. The members of the 
church 1 are fourteen in number and their names are as follows : 
Christopher Bergen and his wife Anna, Samuel Ryker and his 
wife Barbara, Jeduthan Dodd, John L. McCoskey, Peter Ryker and 
his wife Susannah, John Ryker and his wife Nancy, Theodorus 
Vanosdol, Peter Vancleve, Rachel Vanosdol, Rachel Weatherford. 
Afterward met with session and admitted Mary Benepiel and 
Hannah Hamilton by profession. . . . Twenty-five per- 
sons are now in this room around me, all to tarry through the 
night. 

Sabbath. Administered the sacrament to the church yesterday 
constituted, there being nearly forty communicants present. 
While administering the ordinance one young man, G. B., was 
so struck with the expression, "My God, my God, why hast 
thou forsaken me," that he was pressed down, and kept his 
bed till night. Many were much affected and after the meeting 
was over two other young persons were so powerfully impressed 
that they could not refrain from crying out, ' ' What shall I do ? " 
While at supper an aged sinner of sixty-six, and directly after 
another of seventy-four cried out, "We are undone, we are 
lost." 

Saturday, October 24th. Preached to a large congregation at 
New Lexington, and then proceeded to form a church. Received 
and read the letters of such as had them and heard the relation of 
others. Alexander McNutt, William Wilson, and Solomon Davis 
were elected elders. One young lady who had been a Baptist 
wished to join us, having given up her Baptist sentiments, and 
accordingly she was received. 

Sabbath. Met with the brethren and sisters for further consulta- 
tion, and at 11 o'clock proceeded to the place of preaching, 
delivered a sermon to a very large, solemn congregation and then 

1 Jefferson church. Cf. Dickey's " History," p. 7. 



122 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



proceeded to constitute the church. 1 Read the Confession of Faith 
and covenant, declared them a church, and consecrated them 
to the Lord by prayer. Then proceeded to ordain the elders, and 
charge them and the congregation. Afterward baptized eight 
children. . . . The members of the church are twenty in 
number and their names are as follows : Alexander McNutt and 
his wife Margaret, William Wilson and his wife Margaret, 
Solomon Davis and his wife Mary, Jacob Hollenback and his 
wife Elenor, William Bowles and his wife Jane, David Walker and 
his wife Jane, Frederick Sipes, Robert Woodburn, Margaret Pat- 
terson, Mary Robinson, Susannah Arbuckle, Fanny Terril, Nancy 
Roe, and Mary Davis. 

Sabbath, November 15th. Rode three miles to Mr. Magner's in 
the evening. Mr. and Mrs. Shields, with thirteen children, were 
at meeting last night. 

Thursday. Rode nine miles through Vincennes to Judge 
McClure's, and preached to an attentive audience. V. is built 
upon the bank of the Wabash. Its local situation is beautiful, but 
its appearance is very mean. But few of the buildings are well 
made and many of them are erected with mud walls. 

Monday, November joth. Continued at Vincennes. Attended 
the funeral of Mr. Emanuel L. Dubois, and delivered an address. 
Spent the most of the day with brethren Derrow, Tenney, and 
Robinson, all of them being missionaries. Heard brother Robin- 
son preach in the evening from John v. : 45. 

Wednesday, December g. Rode thirty-nine miles to Smith's 
Ferry on White River ; thirty miles of the way without a single 
house. Saw about twenty deer, and many buck and elk horns. 

Thursday. Rode thirty miles alone to Judge Ketcham's on 
Clear Creek ; twenty miles without a house. Alas, how great my 
fatigues. For five nights I have lodged on the floor, and for two 
days have found but very little to eat. But the Lord has 
supported me. 

Saturday. Preached at Bloomington, 2 from Psalms cxix.: 165. 
Received from George Anderson, a Methodist preacher, half a 
dollar for the missionary society. 

Tuesday. Rode twenty-five miles to Mr. Steele's, on Steele's 
Prairie. Was very glad to get where there are some of the 
comforts of life again. 

1 Cf. Dickey's " History," p. 7. 

2 Probably the first Presbyterian sermon in the place. Cf. Moore's "History of 
Indianapolis Presbytery," p. 3. 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



123 



Sabbath, Dec. 27th. Preached a funeral sermon on the death of 
Sally Ann Scott. 1 

Sabbath, Jan. 10, i8ig. Preached twice to very large and solemn 
audiences ; first, to Father Balch's people, and baptized Amelia 
Witherspoon, daughter of John and Letitia White, members of Mr. 
Balch's church. 

Sabbath, Jan. 17th. Preached at the court-house in Vincennes. 
Alas, how great is the wickedness of this place. Every species of 
wickedness is committed on the Lord's day, this day being devoted 
to it. May the good Lord have mercy and not destroy the city. 

Friday, Jan. 29th. I have a new trouble. My horse is very 
lame and I fear I must leave him, but I will trust in the Lord. 

Sabbath, Jan. 31st. Preached at Mr. Hall's to a very large and 
solemn congregation. After preaching proceeded to constitute a 
Presbyterian church, having previously made the necessary 
arrangements and examinations, when nine persons came forward 
and were constituted a church of Christ (the Carlisle church). 
Their names are as follows : William McCrary and his wife Mary ; 
James Watson ; Rachel Porter ; Mary Gould ; Lydia Silliman ; 
Anna Brody ; Mary Wasson ; Martha Wasson. Mr. McCrary was 
chosen to the eldership and ordained. 

Monday, Feb. 8th. The citizens of this place (Vincennes) have 
this day presented me with one hundred and one dollars for my 
personal benefit ; and learning that my horse had failed generously 
purchased me another, for which they paid eighty dollars. May 
the Lord reward them for their kindness, and may I have grace 
and gratitude according to my day. 

Sabbath, Feb. 14th. The season is very mild and I have this 
day had greens with dinner. 

Wednesday , Feb. 24th. Rode four miles to Louisville, found 
brother Rodgers, a missionary from New York. Attended a 
prayer meeting with him, brother Reed, and brother Banks. 

Thursday. Rode to Charlestown. Found brother Todd and 
family well. 

1 Here the journal is interrupted by a list of " missionary stopping places " — a sort of 
roll of honor. Livonia : Alex., James, and Elder McKinney ; Orange County : David 
Findley and Mr. Fisher; Camp Creek: Elders Walker, Rodgers, and Henderson; 
Bethlehem : Mr. Armstrong ; Washington : John Allen and Mr. Thompson ; Vin- 
cennes : Drs. Hale and Wood ; Carlisle : Capt. Wasson ; Princeton : Mr. Brown, In- 
keeper, and Esq. Goodlet ; Clear Creek: Judge Ketcham; Bloomington : Wm. Harden, 
Esq., postmaster ; 8 Miles West: Judge Berry; and N. W., Mr. Kirkum ; Steele's 
Prairie : Mr. Steele ; Between Vincennes and Carlisle : Judge McClure, Mr. Ockle- 
tree, and Mr. Watson. 



124 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Friday, March 18, i8ig. Left Madison and crossed the river. 
It was indeed trying to part with my good friends in Indiana. 
They have manifested much affection for me. May the Lord 
crown their years with loving kindness, and if I may meet them no 
more here grant that I may meet them in his kingdom. 

From these scattered extracts it is evident how pains- 
taking and thorough and successful were Mr. Fowler's 
labors in Indiana. 1 Entering the state July 13, 1818, and 
leaving it March 18 of the following year, his fine health 
had been taxed to the utmost, his assiduity had entirely 
broken down a valuable saddle-horse, he had organized 
three churches, through the southern section of the state 
he had everywhere scattered seeds of truth, large tracts of 
country like that about Vincennes he had traversed again 
and again, and it is easy still to discover the lasting influ- 
ence of his discreet zeal. 

Turning homewards he passed through Kentucky, Vir- 
ginia, Maryland, and Delaware, and reached New York 
May 13, in time for the spring anniversaries, which then 
formed a prominent feature of religious life in the Eastern 
States. He soon sought a settlement, and was installed 
pastor of the Congregational church at Plainfield, Conn. , 
March 1, 1820, having previously for several months 
supplied its pulpit. After eleven years' labor there he 
removed to Fall River, Mass., where he was installed 
July 7, 1831. 

In the year 1841 Mr. Fowler delivered three discourses contain- 
ing an historical sketch of Fall River from 1620 to that time. In 
this sketch he referred to the boundary line between Massachu- 
setts and Rhode Island, that had been in dispute for about a cen- 
tury. Not long after, at a meeting of the citizens of Fall River on 
the subject of the boundary, Mr. Fowler, without his consent or 
even knowledge, was placed upon a committee to defend the 
interests of the town before commissioners appointed by the two 

1 He was, however, unable to sing, and found himself on that account often embar- 
rassed. Nor could he become accustomed to the rude frontier life. It will be seen from 
his diary how it cheered him to meet anybody " from Connecticut." 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



125 



states. This service he promptly and ably performed ; but the 
commissioners came to a decision in which the people of Fall 
River were little disposed to acquiesce ; and they resolved upon an 
effort to prevent the establishment by the Massachusetts legisla- 
ture of the line fixed upon by the commissioners. Mr. Fowler 
now published a series of papers in the Boston Atlas designed to 
present before the public mind the historical facts sustaining the 
claims of Massachusetts, but even his most intimate friends did 
not know that he was the author of them. When the authorship 
was ascertained there was a general voice in favor of his being 
chosen to the Senate of the commonwealth, at the next session of 
the legislature. He was accordingly elected in the autumn of 
1847, and the Senate, chiefly, it is said, through his influence, 
rejected the report of the commissioners by a unanimous vote. 
Such was the estimation in which he was now held as a legislator 
that in the autumn of 1848, before his senatorial term had expired, 
the people of his district elected him to the Thirty-first Congress. 
Here his influence was extensively and benignly felt and his advo- 
cacy of the cheap postage bill particularly is said to have been 
highly effective. 

Mr. Fowler, during the time that he was a member of the Mas- 
sachusetts Senate, supplied his own pulpit, either in person or by 
proxy, and continued to perform his pastoral duties until the last 
of November, 1849, when he left Fall River to take his seat in 
Congress. Agreeably to a previous understanding, he was dis- 
missed from his pastoral charge by the same council that installed 
his successor, in the spring of 1850. During his connection with 
Congress he often supplied the pulpits in Washington and the 
vicinity and preached for the last time in the autumn of 1851. 

On the night of the 27th of August, 1852, he had a slight attack 
of illness, but the next day was able to be in his seat in Congress 
as usual. A day or two after the attack was repeated, but relief 
was again obtained after a few hours. It was soon found, how- 
ever, that his disease, so far from being dislodged from his sys- 
tem, was taking on an alarming form, and that his system was 
rapidly sinking under it. After he became convinced that his 
recovery was hopeless he requested to be left alone with his wife, 
when he offered a comprehensive and affecting prayer, without 
wandering or repetition, and mentioning especially both the 
churches of which he had been pastor. After this he began to 
speak of his spiritual state, and said: "I have tried to live in 
peace with God and man" ; but the difficulty of respiration did 



126 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

not allow him to proceed. He languished until the 3d of Septem- 
ber, and then gently fell into his last slumber. His remains were 
taken for burial to Fall River, and were received by his former 
charge as well as his fellow-citizens generally with every testi- 
mony of consideration and respect. His funeral sermon was 
preached by his successor, the Rev. Mr. Relyea. 1 

The eulogy in the House of Representatives was delivered 
December 8, 1852, by his colleague, the Hon. Zeno 
Scudder. 

Mr. Fowler was married October 16, 1821, to Amaryl- 
lis, fourth daughter of John How Payson, of Pomfret, 
Conn., and niece of the Rev. Dr. Payson, of Portland, 
Me. They adopted two children, Mrs. President S. C. 
Bartlett, of Dartmouth, and her brother, Mr. Learned, of 
Chicago. 

Besides various speeches in Congress and contributions 
to periodicals and newspapers, Mr. Fowler published a ser- 
mon at the ordination of Israel G. Rose, at Canterbury, 
1825 ; "Short Practical Essays on the Sabbath" (anony- 
mously), 1826; a "Disquisition on the Evils Attending 
the Use of Tobacco," 1833 ; " Lectures on the Mode and 
Subjects of Baptism," 1835 2 ; "History of Fall River," 
1 84 1 ; and " Papers on the Boundary," 1847. 

From what Mr. Fowler did we may readily see what he 
was. 

He had an air of great dignity, bordering perhaps a little upon 
stateliness ; a mind of more than ordinary capacity, always de- 
lighting in hard labor ; an eminently social and friendly spirit ; 
and a disposition to turn all his talents and opportunities of doing 
good to the best account. 8 

His mind was not of that class which takes in things intuitively. 
He was a severe student. His books of Hebrew and Greek and 
historical reference were always near by and showed marks of 
being often used. The bent of his mind was rather for facts than 

1 Sprague's "Annals," Vol. II., pp. 649, 650. 

2 These lectures received warm encomiums. See Scudder's " Eulogy.'' 

3 Dr. Sprague, in " Annals," Vol. II., p. 650. 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. 



127 



consecutive reasoning. He made thorough work with historical 
documents. His most elaborate performance, for a single dis- 
course, was a lyceum "Lecture on Cotton," which was listened 
to by large audiences, in several manufacturing towns, with deep 
interest. 1 

Were we to review the traits of his character which were the 
source of his success and usefulness, none would appear more 
prominent than his industry, firmness, teachableness, honesty, 
and goodness. These were the elements which made him the 
learned divine, the influential statesman, and useful citizen. 2 

He was shortish and stoutish in physique ; a short neck (ac- 
cording to pictures I frequently see) ; a broad white neck-cloth ; 
with a broad squarish face, and (physically) thick head above it. 
He was of "ye olden style" — called in the children and cate- 
chized them not infrequently ; was very systematic and precise in 
habits and manner ; regularly went round the parish in his calls 
every quarter, and was a confidential adviser in every household. 
He made an appointment to meet a genial lawyer of his parish 
one afternoon at five o'clock. About five minutes before five the 
lawyer saw him coming near on the street and momently 
expected his rap. It did not come till the town clock was striking 
the hour. When the lawyer remonstrated because he had not 
sooner entered he replied that in the five minutes he had made 
another call. He had considerable ability. I suspect he had little 
or no humor. His principle was as exact for others as for him- 
self. He had arranged an exchange with a minister some dozen 
miles away. On reaching that man's house, latish Saturday even- 
ing, he found the minister at home, expecting to drive over the 
next morning. He immediately went out, got into his carriage, 
drove home that night, and supplied his own pulpit the next day. 3 

The venerable Dr. Ravaud K. Rodgers, whose year of 
missionary service in Indiana was contemporaneous with 
that of Mr. Fowler, from Athens, Ga. , writes warmly of 
his acquaintance with him, referring to him as "a very 
agreeable companion, and a very acceptable preacher, 
whose heart was in his work. ' ' 

1 Dr. Thomas Shepherd, in Sprague's "Annals," Vol. II., p. 651. 

2 " Eulogy" by the Hon. Zeno Scudder, delivered in the House of Representatives, 
December 8, 1852. 

3 MS. of the Rev. William W. Adams, D.D., Fall River, Mass. 



128 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTER! ANISM. 



Ravaud K. Rodgers, last of the quartet referred to in 
the beginning of this chapter, is still remembered by a few 
of the oldest residents of southeastern Indiana, to which 
portion of the state his work, in the winter of 1 818-9, was 
mainly confined. In Madison especially, which he re- 
visited a short time before his death, there are very distinct 
traditions of the young eastern minister's force, wit, 
courtesy, and kid gloves. Though from Princeton, and 
bearing credentials from the General Assembly, his en- 
trance into the Madison parish, which had a settled 
minister, was not without opposition. Writing from 
Athens, Ga., March 7, 1876, Dr. Rodgers says : 

It was , as I learned, that called in question my 

right to preach the gospel in Indiana, and among other things 
charged that my views of Christian theology were very incorrect. 
Upon consultation with the elders of the church and some of the 
private members it was thought proper that I should on the then 
approaching Sabbath read from my commission from the board to 
satisfy the minds of all that I was not that impostor which Mr. 

would make me out to be. He also gave it as his opinion 

that I had no religion about me ! I could not but think on that 
point as our dear old Dr. Alexander thought when he was 
inquired of by an impudent ignoramus, " Do you think that you 
have any religion?" calmly replying, "None to brag of." The 
good people of Madison, notwithstanding all that was said, treated 
me with great kindness. 

In another communication, February 17, 1876, referring 
to an invitation he had received to visit Indiana once 
more, he says : 

I dare not even think of such a visit. I had better be preparing 
for a visit elsewhere. I have the pleasant hope of meeting some 
beyond the dark river with whom I took sweet counsel in the 
days when, as an inexperienced youth, I endeavored to preach 
Christ in the young state of Indiana. 

Dr. Rodgers was born in New York City, November, 
1797. His father was John Richardson Bayard Rodgers, 



A NOTABLE QUARTET. I 20, 

M.D., surgeon of a Pennsylvania regiment in the revolu- 
tionary army. His grandfather was Dr. John Rodgers, so 
long pastor of the Wall Street Presbyterian Church, New 
York, and first moderator of the General Assembly. He 
graduated at Princeton College in 1 815, in the class of 
Drs. Charles Hodge, Symmes C. Henry, and Bishop John 
Johns. After his graduation from Princeton Seminary in 
18 1 8, and the brief missionary tour in Indiana, he was 
settled at Sandy Hill, N. Y. , for ten years, removing from 
there to take the pastorate at Bound Brook, N. J., which 
he retained for forty-four years. He was stated clerk of 
the Synod of New Jersey for thirty-six years, and in coun- 
cils of the church occupied a place of prominence. When 
increasing infirmities admonished him to relinquish active 
labor he retired to Athens, Ga. , the residence of his only 
child, the wife of R. L. Bloomfield, Esq., where he en- 
joyed the serenity of a beautiful old age. His death 
occurred January 12, 1879. He was buried in the Bound 
Brook cemetery, where his children rest, and many to 
whom for so long a period he ministered in the gospel. 

It was late in 1818 1 that Charles Stebbins Robinson, 
a representative of the Young Men's Missionary Society of 
New York City, on his way to Missouri crossed the state 
of Indiana, where he preached the gospel and made care- 
ful observation of the religious destitutions. A page from 
his experience on the frontier well exhibits the self-denials 
and sufferings from which the church and the nation have 
gathered so rich a harvest. 

I have worn myself out in the missionary service and now I 
have not the means of taking a journey, the only way that remains 

1 Not in 1816, as Gillett says (Vol. II., p. 397), and Roy in his " Historical Sketch of 
Congregationalism and Presbyterianism in Indiana." Born at Granville, Mass., May 
29, 1791, a graduate of Williams in 1814, and of Andover in 1818, reaching St. Charles, 
Mo., December 7, 1818, Robinson made that the center of missionary operations until 
his death, February 25, 1828. His widow survived until August 28, 1833. 



130 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

of restoring my health ; and indeed scarcely of procuring for my- 
self the comforts of life as I sink into the grave, and leave my 
family none knows to whose care, except there is a God of the 
widow and the fatherless. Since I have been in St. Charles I 
once had, for a considerable time, nothing to eat but milk. I 
went to the store for necessary food, and was refused because I 
had not the money to pay for it. I returned to my destitute 
family, you may imagine with what feelings. None knew of our 
distress but those who felt it. It was November, the cold wind 
found ready entrance to our cabin, and we had no wood. I pro- 
cured a spade with a view of remedying the evil as well as I could, 
throwing up a bank around the house. I had scarcely dug into 
the earth a foot when to my surprise I threw up a silver dollar 
which had long been bedded beneath the surface. The goodness 
of God filled my heart, and I must say I wept plentifully at the 
sight of it. I could not help it. This served to furnish us with a 
little wood and a few necessaries. But I could not have remained 
there at that time had it not been for the kindness of a friend. 1 

1 See Missouri Presbyterian Recorder, Vol. I., No. 6, pp. 169-71. Cf. TJte Home 
Missionary, Vol. I., p. 115 ; also, Indiana Religious Intelligencer, Vol.1., pp. 285-6. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Better Ecclesiastical Supervision. 
1819-1821. 

The labor expended upon the frontier at this early- 
period would have been much more effective had it been 
directed by an intelligent supervision. It was easier to 
detect than to remedy the difficulty, however, and many 
of the missionaries, choosing their own methods, were 
also compelled to select their own fields without trust- 
worthy information as to the most needy vacancies or the 
most favorable openings. With a desire to introduce 
something like system into these affairs, the Synod of 
Kentucky had already submitted to the General Assembly 
the inquiry ' ' whether it would not be proper for a stated 
missionary to be settled somewhere in the western country 
(say on the Wabash) and for him to be constantly em- 
ployed in the missionary service. ' ' 1 This suggestion of a 
superintendent of missions, had it been at once adopted, 
might have saved many a year of toil at a period when it 
was peculiarly important to economize all the energies of 
the struggling church. 

The small number of permanent pastors was a further 
disadvantage. At first nearly all the missionaries came 
upon horseback, rode over an immense circuit, and then 
returned to their parishes, or to other circuits, in other 
states. It required but a brief experience to teach the 
missionary societies the waste of such expenditures. The 

1 " Minutes Kentucky Synod," October 15, 1810, Vol. [., p. 193. 

131 



132 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



fourth annual report of the United Domestic Missionary- 
Society says : 

Under a deep conviction of the prime importance of a stated 
ministry, and in conformity to the usage of this society from the 
beginning, we have expended the income of the year to aid feeble 
churches and congregations in the support of ministers who were 
already settled over them as pastors, or who had the prospect of 
being permanently employed to watch for souls as they that must 
give account. We have, accordingly, in general discountenanced 
the system of itineracy, which has been pursued in too many 
instances, in this and other countries, to comparatively little 
effect. It has been required of the missionaries of this society to 
confine their labors principally to a specified field, embracing 
one or at most two or three churches or congregations. Experi- 
ence has convinced this committee, and we rejoice to perceive in 
the recent usage of other domestic missionary societies, that the 
Christian public are beginning to be convinced that the system of 
charitable aid, which furnishes weak congregations with the 
means of supporting a settled ministry, is far more effective in 
its permanent results than that which embraces a wider field, and 
plants but does not water. The latter too often disappoints and 
discourages those whom it excites and interests ; the former 
pours upon its beneficiaries a perennial stream of those saving 
benefits which it has already taught them to value. To maintain 
a permanent ministry, therefore, on as wide a field as we have 
had ability to occupy, has been our settled purpose. 1 

But this purpose was continually thwarted by the lack 
of men. The great majority of missionaries to Indiana 
were still itinerants, concerning whom Dickey observed 
that 4 ' from the brevity of the commissions and the ex- 
tensive field of operations which they embrace, the good 
effected has been by no means proportionate to the time 
and treasure expended." 2 

In 1 8 19 and the two succeeding years the names of 
eleven new missionaries appear, but it seems that of these 
only a single one had at the time any intention of settling 

1 " Fourth Annual Report of the U. D. M. S." (May, 1826), pp. 18, 19. 

2 " Brief History," p 18. 



BETTER SUPERVISION. 



133 



within the state, and he after a brief service was removed 
by death. In 1 820-1 came, from Tennessee, Francis 
McFarland, who soon went westward to Missouri ; Adams 
W. Piatt, who returned to New York ; William B. 
Barton, 1 who settled in Woodbridge, N. J.; Ahab Jenks, 
from Ohio, a sturdy representative of the Connecticut 
society ; and George S. Boardman and John Vancourt, 2 
commissioned by the Assembly. Thompson S. Harris l» 
also received an appointment from the Assembly, but 
preferred to go directly to the Seneca Indian Mission, 
near Buffalo, N. Y. 

To the year 18 19 belongs an old record, recalling a 
pioneer who until a much later day was chiefly occupied 
beyond the eastern boundary of Indiana. The record, 
signed by Lowes, Lowry, Jacobs, McLean, Decker, 
Brooks, Kennedy, Laremor, Harper, Gardner, etc., is as 
follows : 

We, the undersigned, promise to pay the Rev. David Monfort 
the sum of money annexed to our names — the one half to be 
paid in six months, the other half in one year from the date 
(April 1, 1819), in compensation for his labor in preaching one 
day in every four weeks at Centre School House, four Sabbaths, 
the remainder on week days, for one year. In witness whereof 
we have set our names. 3 

David Monfort, son of Lawrence and Elizabeth 
Cassat Monfort, was born in York, now Adams County, 
Pa., March 7, 1790. His ancestors were Huguenots, 

1 His work in Indiana, continued for about six months, was chiefly given to the 
Jefferson church, Jefferson County. 

a Vancourt seems to have returned his commission without visiting the field, the 
vacancy being filled by Barton. Boardman was sent to Madison and the adjoining 
settlement, but finding the field preoccupied by Searle he itinerated chiefly on the 
White and Indian Kentucky Rivers. Cf. Gillett's " History," Vol. II., pp. 406, 407. 

3 Centre School House was in Franklin County, Ind. While preaching there one 
Sabbath each month Mr. Monfort preached on the remaining Sabbaths at Bethel 
church, on Indian Creek, Ohio. The salary for one fourth of his time was twenty-nine 
dollars per annum. John Brooks and Simeon Jacobs paid in sugar. 



134 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

driven from France to Holland by the revocation of the 
Edict of Nantes, a race whose representatives in Johnson 
County, Ind., may still be recognized from such names as 
Aten, Bergen, Bonte, Brewer, Brinkerhoff, Conover, Dema- 
ree, Pieterson, Seburn, Voris, Vannuys, Van Dyne, Van 
Dyke, etc. Young Monfort lived with his parents on a farm 
in Warren County, Ohio, until he passed his minority. 
When seventeen years of age his religious life began, in the 
midst of the New Light Revival. He became a member 
of the Presbyterian Church, and in preparation for the 
ministry studied privately under the Rev. Richard Mc- 
Nemar, near his home, and with the Rev. John Thomson, 
at Springfield, now Springdale, near Cincinnati. He com- 
pleted his literary course in Transylvania University and 
his course in theology at Princeton, graduating in 1817. 
Licensed by the Miami Presbytery, at Lebanon, April 4, 
181 7, he supplied Bethel church for a few months, re- 
ceived a call as pastor, and was ordained and installed 
October 20 of the same year. This pastorate continued 
ten years and was both happy and useful. Mr. Monfort 
was strong, active, of fine personal appearance, a good 
student, an attractive writer and speaker, and withal an 
excellent singer. His church became the largest in the 
state, with the exception of the First Church, Cincinnati. 
Besides the regular engagement at ' ' Centre School 
House," already alluded to, he also occasionally preached 
during the Bethel pastorate at Lawrenceburgh, Brook- 
ville, Mt. Carmel, Dunlapsville, Connersville, and other 
points in Indiana. 

In 1828 he took charge of the church at Terre Haute, 
where he remained but two years, in the midst of affliction 
and suffering. He lost his wife and daughter, and was 
himself visited with severe sickness, causing a lameness 
from which he never recovered. Returning to Ohio he 
spent one year in Wilmington and its neighborhood, when 



BETTER SUPERVISION. 



135 



he again came to Indiana and began his long pastorate 
at Franklin. He was now in feeble health, but worked 
incessantly and with great success. Death once more 
visited his house, removing his second wife, Rhoda Hal- 
sey, of Lebanon, Ohio, immediately after his settlement at 
Franklin. Until 1838 he was also pastor of the Hopewell 
church, receiving a salary of three hundred dollars from 
both societies. After a service of nineteen years at Frank- 
lin he retired, in 1850, living for a time at Kingston, Ind., 
Decatur, 111., and finally at Macomb, 111., where he died, ; 
suddenly, of paralysis, October 18, i860. 1 

Dr. Monfort 2 was a man of wide and varied learning. He was 
trimly built, though undersized in person, had dark hair and eyes, 
a narrow high forehead, and was remarkably neat in his dress'. 
His manners were engaging. Whilst always serious he was never 
gloomy and forbidding. He held in scrupulous regard all the 
proprieties and conventionalities of life. No incident is preserved 
to indicate that he had the slightest tendency to wit or humor. 
He was possessed of a sound and discriminating judgment ; knew 
how to gain the good will of men and how to hold their esteem. 
His views of religious truth were clear and decided, and what he 
believed he preached with all the might that was in him. As 
a speaker his most marked characteristic was his great clearness. 
He was a teacher of men, excelling in doctrinal discourse, but on 
occasions he preached with great feeling. His manner was 
deliberate, calm, solemn, and earnest. 3 

He was thoroughly versed in ecclesiastical jurisprudence 
and his opinions as to principles and precedents had in the 
church courts almost the force of law. 4 

1 Cf. " History of the Half-century Celebration at Franklin " (address of Dr. J. G. 
Monfort), pp. 160-4. 

2 Hanover College conferred upon him the doctorate. 

3 " History of the Half-century Celebration at Franklin " (Judge Banta's address), pp. 
149, 150. 

* He was thrice married. Of his first wife, Phebe, daughter of Judge Isaac Spinning, 
of Dayton, Ohio, three children survived him : Elizabeth, wife of the Rev. John C. King, 
Isaac Pierson, and Lawrence. Of his third wife, Ann Ray, of Indianapolis, were the 
Rev. Cornelius V., Mary, wife of the Rev. Robert M. Roberts, John, Andrew, and 
Phebe. 



136 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

To the one Presbyterian minister who in 1819 came 
to take up his residence in the state a tragic interest 
belongs. He traveled half-way across the continent to his 
field on the Ohio at Madison. At that time this perhaps 
seemed the most important Indiana parish. Established 
four years previously by William Robinson, and by him 
irregularly supplied, though the congregation had not 
grown rapidly its position gave it a sort of metropolitan 
influence. Until a much later period Madison was the 
market for Monfort's future parishioners at Franklin, and 
even for the stragglers still further north who were soon 
to build their cabins in the neighborhood of the coming 
capital of the state. The church on the Ohio needed and 
was now to secure a master-workman. 

Thomas C. Searle came to Indiana under the auspices 
of the Young Men's Missionary Society of New York City. 
A graduate of Dartmouth College and of Princeton Theo- 
logical Seminary, he began his ministry at Montgomery 
Court House, Maryland. 1 Chosen in 181 7 to the pro- 
fessorship of logic at Dartmouth he retired from that 
position to enter the missionary service. He was present, 
August 15, 1 8 19, with Thomas Cleland and John M. 
Dickey, at the second communion season, of which a 
record is preserved in the Madison church. From that 
date he assumed the care of the parish. On March 4, 
1820, he constituted the Hanover church, Clifty Creek 
forming the boundary between it and the Madison congre- 
gation.. His New Hampshire attachments determined the 
name of the society, and thus also of the future college. 2 
He was installed over the Madison and Hanover churches, 

1 Cf. MS. of the Rev. Isaac Reed, who in 1829 was appointed to prepare a history of 
Vincennes Presbytery, and has left the notes he had begun with some assiduity to collect. 
With regard to Searle see also Reed's " Christian Traveller," pp. 92, 213. 

2 The same circumstances likewise gave a name to the church which Mr. Searle con- 
stituted in Jennings and Ripley Counties, August 17, 1821, and called "Dartmouth." 
This organization soon disappeared in the Graham and Vemon churches. 



BETTER SUPERVISION. 1 37 

August 13, 1820. With great zeal and with flattering 
success he prosecuted his work ; but the autumn of 1821 
was in a marked degree unwholesome, and the young 
pastor was soon prostrated with a bilious fever. Descend- 
ing too soon from his chamber to preside over the nuptials 
of a niece, he suffered a relapse, and October 15, at the 
age of thirty-three, he died. Over the entire community 
not only, but over the whole region, the shadow of this 
event long rested, Mr. Searle's capacities, devotedness, 
and popularity having justly excited the highest anticipa- 
tions. Of slight and trim figure, attractive in appearance 
and manner, he had at once become a favorite. With 
affectionate laudation, seldom more fully deserved, the 
afflicted church inscribed upon his tombstone in the old 
cemetery their sense of his worth : "As a man he was 
universally loved and respected ; as a Christian he was 
a pattern for all ; as a scholar and promoter of learning he 
held the first rank ; as a preacher of the gospel he 
excelled. ' ' 



CHAPTER IX. 



Indianapolis. 
1821. 

The seat of government of the Indiana territory was 
originally at Vincennes, its oldest settlement and safest 
military post. By the legislature of 1813 the capital was 
transferred to Corydon, where, in December of that year, 
Governor Posey delivered his first message to the General 
Assembly. Having created a state government by the act 
approved April 19, 18 16, the national Congress donated 
four sections of land, to be selected by the legislature, for 
a permanent capital. Ten commissioners were accordingly 
designated, January 11, 1820, to choose a suitable location 
near the center of the state, and three of the five who 
served upon the commission reported in favor of the pres- 
ent site. 1 The report was approved January 6, 1821, and 
at the suggestion of Judge Jeremiah Sullivan, of Madison, 
Indianapolis 2 was fixed upon as the future city's name. 

When the legislative commission made their report the 
whole region comprising the new seat of government was 
still in possession of the Indians. Ceded by them to the 
white men, October 3, 1818, the treaty at St. Mary's, 
Ohio, then expressly stipulated that they should not be 
ejected until 1821. The reported fertility of "the new pur- 
chase" had, however, already begun to attract settlers. 

1 Naturally William Conner, "the Father of Central Indiana," at whose house the 
commissioners met, about sixteen miles north of the present capital, strongly favored the 
selection of that locality, now Noblesville. 

a By General Marston G. Clark, brother of General George Rogers Clark, " Tecum- 
seh " was suggested. Another commissioner advocated " Suwaroff ." 

138 



Indianapolis. 



139 



George Pogue, a blacksmith, according to tradition came 
to the site of Indianapolis from the Whitewater, 1 March 2, 
1 8 19. About the same time came also John and James 
McCormick. These were the earliest arrivals. Late in 
1820 and in the following spring, this patch of forest 
having now acquired celebrity from the commissioners' 
report to the legislature, other frontiersmen appeared. In 
April, 1 82 1, the surveyors, under Alexander Ralston, 
commenced the labor of laying off the town, and on the 
tenth of October following the state agent, General John 
Carr, opened the public sale of alternate lots in Matthias 
Nowland's log tavern, on Washington, west of Missouri 
Street. The sale occupied several days, and three hun- 
dred and fourteen lots were disposed of. The Indianapo- 
lis history was thus fairly begun. 

These beginnings were in the literal wilderness. The 
forests were most dense. What sort of trees stood com- 
pactly for a hundred miles in every direction from this 
classical clearing may be suspected from the fact that in 
the winter of 1820 under the river bank, near Washington 
Street, a hollow sycamore log furnished Wyandotte John a 
commodious dwelling. The undergrowth of hazel and 
pawpaw and spicewood was nearly impenetrable. To all 
ordinary effort the region was inaccessible on account of 
the mud, the level surface and the thick shade effecting a 
direful conspiracy of bogs. An Episcopal missionary sent 
from Philadelphia declared that, though an old traveler, he 
had never in any part of the world felt himself to be in 
greater peril than when attempting to ride a horse through 
the mire from Madison to the new capital. The agues 
were as colossal as the swamps and the timber. At times 
the whole population was prostrated. It would not seem 
that the attractions of the place were remarkable. A Pari- 

1 The first emigrants from the eastward and from Kentucky were nearly equal in 
numbers. The former were known as the " Whitewater " people. 



140 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

sian transported over the poplars and walnuts in the 
summer of 1821, and set down at Carter's tavern on 
''Berry's Trace," would soon have begun to sigh for 
home. 

But let it not be supposed that the isolated, sallow, 
log-cabined settlement was either puny or pitiable. The 
truth is that a singularly hardy and energetic population 
were already here, and such were their mental and social 
qualities that at least on its well days and intermittently 
the hamlet had an air not only of cheerfulness but of dig- 
nity. Calvin Fletcher, Harvey Gregg, and Obed Foote 
were the attorneys. Isaac Coe, Samuel G. Mitchell, and 
Livingston Dunlap dispensed the Peruvian bark and calo- 
mel, and were assisted by Jonathan Cool whenever old rye 
and old rhymes could spare him. Daniel Shaffer, the 
Pennsylvania Dutchman and the hero of the early ' ' rais- 
ings," opened, on the south bank of Pogue's Creek, the 
first store. He soon had important rivals in John Givan 
and Nicholas McCarty. Colonel James Blake was the 
steam-engine of the place in those days when steam- 
engines were almost unknown. James M. Ray, the clerk 
at the sale of lots, became the first county clerk. Caleb 
Scudder was the cabinet-maker, Wilkes Reagan the 
butcher, and John Van Blaricum the horse-shoer. Amos 
Hanway made the wash-tubs and buckets, and Samuel S. 
Rooker, the first sign-painter, soon had orders from Car- 
ter's "Rosebush" and Hawkins's "Eagle" Tavern. 
Samuel Henderson was postmaster until 1829 ; Morris 
Morris and Daniel Yandes were projecting corn-fields and 
tan-yards ; George Smith, of the coming Gazette news- 
paper, made himself queer with a long queue supersti- 
tiously tied with an eel-skin string ; and John McCormick 
was the crack fisherman, who, it was said, could in two or 
three hours load a canoe with ' ' gar ' ' from his lucky gig. 

Of the primitive population it will be seen that a large 



INDIANAPOLIS. 



I 4 I 



and influential portion was Presbyterian. A minister soon 
came to them. In August, 1821, two months before the 
sale of lots, the first Presbyterian sermon was delivered. 
The service was held under a large black walnut tree near 
the southwest corner of Washington and Mississippi 
Streets, the underbrush having been laboriously cleared 
away for the occasion. It may be worth while to attempt 
a reproduction of the scene. Dr. Isaac Coe, James Blake, 
Caleb Scudder, and James M. Ray were the acknowledged 
leaders. Coe, by virtue of his talents, zeal, and ecclesias- 
tical experience, was, then and afterward, foremost. He 
was as sound a stick of Calvinism as ever grew. He came 
from sturdy stock. The first of the name who emigrated 
to America was Robert Coe, from Ipswich, Suffolkshire, 
England, with seventy-four other pilgrims, in the ship 
Francis, captain John Cutting, in the year 1634. He 
resided first at Watertown, Mass. , and afterward at Stam- 
ford, Conn. The grandfather of this first emigrant, of the 
same name, suffered martyrdom in Suffolkshire in Septem- 
ber, 1555. He was burned by Queen Mary and is 
mentioned in Fox's " Book of Martyrs." Dr. Isaac Coe 
came from Virginia to Indianapolis, by Madison, in May, 
1 82 1. He was a man of mind, educated, thoroughly 
settled in the highest principles of morality, and a com- 
petent guide in all Christian affairs. Blake, whose cheer- 
ful energy in days of war and peace was itself an 
inspiration, had before him a long and prominent career of 
usefulness. Scudder, in a quiet sphere, illustrated the 
value to a young community of mature and modest virtue. 
Ray surviving until March, 1881, was permitted to teach 
another generation what serenity and strength religion can 
afford for days of darkness. 1 Brought together under the 
big tree on that memorable August day, these four men 

1 For notices of the pioneers of the town see Ignatius Brown's " Historical Sketch," 
Holloway's " Indianapolis," and Nowland's " Early Reminiscences of Indianapolis." 



142 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



were destined in yet closer bonds to toil side by side for 
many a year. 

The preacher at this first service, a stout, florid man, 
with a great voice and a big wart on his forehead, was the 
Rev. Ludwell G. Gaines, of Ohio, an itinerant sent to the 
field by the Assembly's Committee of Missions. James 
M. Ray writes : 

He was a robust man, earnest in impressing the value of 
religion and good morals in our young community, and was 
listened to with interest and quietly by about two hundred and 
fifty of the settlers (as we called each other then). His forcible 
appeals tended to strengthen those among the first comers who 
wished to have Sunday kept from the beginning in the future 
capital of the state and to have the day rescued from the indul- 
gence in shooting game and fishing then general in the West. 

Licensed by Miami Presbytery April 5, 1821, imme- 
diately after his Indiana tour, Mr. Gaines was in October 
appointed to the charge of Hopewell and Somerset in 
Ohio. He died February 6, 1861. "He was a man of 
deep piety and earnest devotion to his Master's work." 

It was some time before this community of Presbyterians 
again heard a sermon from one of their own ministers, 
though late the same autumn, 1 on his way to Missouri, 
whither the Connecticut Missionary Society had sent him, 
young David Choate Proctor passed through Indiana and 
Illinois. The lack of a minister was in part supplied by 
the diligence of Isaac Coe, who opened a Bible class, 
February 20, 1822, at the house of Lismund Basye. 2 Two 
or three months later, returning homewards from the Mis- 
sissippi, Mr. Proctor spent a week during the month of 
May at Indianapolis, on several occasions preaching to the 

1 Cf. "Life and Times of Stephen Bliss," pp. 56-9. (It was after, not before, the 
occasion alluded to by the biographer of Bliss that Proctor's service at Indianapolis 
began.) 

2 Cf. Greene's " Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Indianapolis 
Sabbath Schools," p. 5. 



INDIANAPOLIS. 143, 

people. An effort was made to detain him permanently, 
and four hundred dollars were subscribed for three fourths 
of his time for one year from the first of the ensuing Octo- 
ber. The remaining Sabbath of each month was to be 
given to Bloomington. Meanwhile the Rev. Isaac Reed 
visited the congregation about the first of June ; and 
finally, according to the previous arrangement, Mr. Proc- 
tor in October assumed charge of the parish, and thus 
became the first settled minister at the capital. During 
this early period the extemporized pulpit was for the sum- 
mer in Caleb Scudder's cabinet-shop, and through the 
winter at the residence of Judge Mcllvaine. 

On Friday, March 7, 1823, the first number of the 
Western Censor and Emigrants' Guide contained the 
following : 

Public Notice : — The Presbyterian congregation will meet on 
Saturday, the 226. day of March, inst., at one o'clock, at the 
schoolhouse in the town of Indianapolis, for the purpose of incor- 
porating themselves, agreeably to an act of the legislature, and 
electing trustees. It is particularly requested that all persons who 
subscribed for building a meeting-house and for the support of 
Mr. Proctor will attend. 

The subscription for the meeting-house had already 
reached the sum of twelve hundred dollars. The second 
number of the Censor, March 19, says : 

We understand that the establishment of a Sunday-school is in 
contemplation in this town. We hope for the benefit of society 
that it will be successful. The advantages that have been de- 
rived from these institutions in many parts of the United States 
have already had a very considerable effect upon society. 

On April 2, the same paper continues : 

We are requested to state that the Sunday-school will hold its 
first meeting on Sunday morning, the 6th inst., at Mr. Scudder's 
cabinet-shop. 



144 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



According to appointment the school did meet amidst 
the saws and the shavings. James M. Ray was elected 
superintendent and thirty scholars were enrolled, of whom 
some came six miles. Thus began the march of that 
grand army for so many years marshalled, each Fourth of 
July, by Colonel James Blake, to hear the Declaration of 
Independence and eat gingerbread in the State-House 
Square. One of the original members of the first school 
says : 

Fifty years ago to-day I entered that school, a boy eight 
years old, and did not know one letter of the alphabet, nor do I 
believe that among the ten or twelve boys present there was one 
who could spell his own name, or would know it should he see it 
in print. The incidents of that day were calculated to make a 
lasting impression on the young mind. The Sunday-school had 
been the topic of conversation with the boys of the village for 
some time. We thought it a great innovation upon our personal 
rights. We thought that Messrs. Coe, Blake, and Ray, who 
organized the school, were assuming power they had no right to. 
I was assigned to the class of the late James Blake, who taught 
me the alphabet, as well as to spell and read. In Mr. Blake's 
class I learned to repeat the Catechism, Lord's Prayer, and Ten 
Commandments. I remained in that school some nine or ten 
years and there learned many useful and instructive lessons. 
The rules at first were most rigid, and delinquency on the part of 
the scholars was severely reprimanded and reported to their 
parents. One of the rules required that we should attend church 
on the Sabbath ; hence Sunday was a day of rest to the ground 
squirrels and rabbits. Birds were left uninterrupted to build their 
nests. 1 

Thus far there was only the Sabbath-school — a union 
school, heartily supported by Presbyterians, Methodists, 
Baptists, and New Lights, who for five years wrought 
harmoniously together. 2 But by the Sunday-school is 

1 Letter of J. H. B. Nowland in Greene's pamphlet, p. 16. 

2 The separate Methodist school was not established until April 24, 1829. That of the 
Baptists was organized in 1833. 



INDIANAPOLIS. 



145 



sure to grow the church. Accordingly says the Censor 
newspaper, June 18, 1823 : 

We are requested to give information that a Presbyterian 
church will be formed in this place and the sacrament attended 
on the first Sabbath in July. The service on this occasion will 
commence on the Friday preceding at two o'clock. 

This arrangement was afterward slightly changed, and 
the Censor, July 9, announced that 

On Saturday, the 5th inst. (July, 1823), a Presbyterian church 
was constituted in this town. Fifteen members were received 
into communion. The Rev. Mr. Proctor, the resident minister, 
was assisted on the occasion by the Rev. Mr. Martin, the Rev. 
Mr. Reed, and the Rev. Mr. Day, who went away pleased with 
the conduct and orderly deportment of our citizens. 

So early had the backwoods capital established a reputa- 
tion for propriety and order. 

For the Saturday service the congregation found the 
usual shelter in the cabinet-shop. Thither the fifteen 
persons who were to compose the society, with their 
friends, made their way through the thickets and along 
the cow-tracks. The next day, for the first communion 
season, they were to have a grander welcome. The 
twelve-hundred-dollar meeting-house was not complete, 
but could be occupied. Thirty-four by fifty-four feet it 
was, on Pennsylvania Street, just north of Market. 
There assembled the Sunday congregation with eloquent 
"Father" Martin, ubiquitous Isaac Reed, and Ezra 
H. Day, so near the end of his short career, to assist 
Mr. Proctor in the administration of the sacrament. That 
day's work, setting up God's altars in what was to be 
the most populous and important community of the state, 
was one well worth the toilsome journeys from Livonia, 
from the " Cottage of Peace" in Owen County, and from 
New Albany. To complete the picture it is necessary 
to sketch the career and character of the central figure 



I46 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

of the occasion, who for a few months longer was to 
remain in charge of the flock. 

David Choate Proctor, born in New Hampshire in 
1792, a graduate of Dartmouth and of Andover, was 
licensed by a Congregational Association, and in 1822, 
having received ordination, came to the West, under ap- 
pointment from the Connecticut Missionary Society. He 
crossed the Wabash about March 1st, and on the 5th 
of the same month organized the first Presbyterian church 
in Edwards County, 111. 1 He visited Indianapolis in the 
following May and concluded his engagement with the 
congregation there for one year from the subsequent 
October. From Indianapolis he removed to Kentucky in 
the fall of 1823 and took charge of the Springfield and 
Lebanon churches. His services at Lebanon were highly 
acceptable, 2 but in 1826 he was called to the presidency 
of Centre College at Danville, a position which he held 
from the resignation of Dr. Chamberlain until the election 
of Dr. Blackburn in the ensuing year. Upon his marriage 
he settled upon the venerable plantation near Shelbyville. 
When the education of his children required it he trans- 
ferred his residence for four years to New Haven, Conn., 
having previously disposed of his estate. Returning to 
Kentucky, he purchased a farm near Frankfort, where 
he died of pneumonia January 18, 1865. 

In person Mr. Proctor was of medium height, of dark 
complexion, and of attractive presence. He was of a social 
disposition, fond of anecdotes, and devoted to his horse. 
Later in life he cultivated a marked decorum of manner 
and of speech. In reply to an ordinary question about the 
probabilities of the weather he would be likely to say : 
"Really, sir, I cannot affirm." To his friends he was 

1 " Life and Times of Stephen Bliss," pp. 56-9. 

2 " Historical Discourse Preached at Lebanon " by the Rev. A. A. Hogue, Louisville, 
1859, pp.9, 10. 



INDIANAPOLIS. 147 

strongly attached and was accustomed to "use hospital- 
ity." "I reckon Kentucky would suit him," said one 
who knew his early characteristics and the cordiality of 
southern society. "A real Yankee he was in some things," 
is the recollection of another who had in mind his minute 
and sagacious advice to seamstresses and cooks. In busi- 
ness affairs his precision and order became proverbial, 
these qualities also appearing in the carefulness of his 
toilet. His thrift was extraordinary. "There was not a 
man in Shelby County whose judgment about a horse 
would be more valued. " Dr. Thomas H. Cleland speaks 
of his recollection of names and faces : " He knew every 
chick and child." One who was long associated with him 
writes : 

He was a well-educated minister. His preaching was sound 
and useful, though not particularly attractive in the manner of 
utterance. Very few of our ministers in Kentucky have done so 
much gratuitous labor in feeble churches and destitute regions. If 
he had given himself wholly to the work he would have done 
more, but he was exceedingly sensitive and rather than be de- 
pendent on anybody he chose to "labor with his own hands" 
and preach without compensation. I think he misjudged in his 
plans of life and usefulness, but I confess to an admiration for his 
generosity and independence. 1 

1 MS. letter of the Rev. Dr. Edward P. Humphrey, dated June 27, 1876. 



CHAPTER X. 



Extension toward the North. 
1822. 

Thus far the labors of Protestant missionaries had been 
almost wholly confined to the southern half of Indiana. That 
vast northern tract of swamp and forest which with char- 
acteristic acumen and enterprise the French priests had ex- 
plored and seized upon two hundred years before, until now 
had continued to be the happy hunting ground of Indians. 
Wallace, a Presbyterian chaplain, had at an early day gone 
with the troops to the junction of the St. Joseph and the 
St. Mary, 1 but the church sent no successor after him. 
There was indeed too scanty a white population to require 
a stated ministry. Not until 1821, when the surveys for 
the capital were completed, did the conditions annexed to 
the treaty of St. Mary's expel the red man from these 
ancient haunts of duck and deer. Their enforced depart- 
ure was the signal for moving the line of settlements north- 
ward. With the settlers promptly came a missionary of 
the General Assembly. In December, 1822, John Ross, 
who afterward attained a longevity entirely unique in our 
annals, preached the first Presbyterian sermon to the resi- 
dents of Fort Wayne. From May, 1820, to the time of 
Mr. Ross's visit, the Rev. Isaac McCoy, of the Baptist 
Church, had resided there, preaching the gospel and main- 
taining a mission school for the benefit of the Indians. 
In August, 1822, a Baptist society was organized, consist- 
ing of the mission family, two Indian women, and one 

1 See Chapter IV. 

148 



EXTENSION TOWARD THE NORTH. 



149 



black man. 1 Mr. Ross found at the settlement about one 
hundred and fifty persons, including French and half- 
breeds, mainly engaged in the Indian trade. The nearest 
village was at Shane's Prairie, forty miles distant. Except 
as the trace was dotted with occasional cabins, a day's 
journey apart, all northwest of Piqua was a wilderness. 

The missionary, who at the time was pastor of a church 
in the New Jersey settlement on the Big Miami, opposite 
Franklin, took passage in a light two-horse wagon, with 
Matthias Griggs, of Lebanon, Ohio, afterward a member 
of the church at Fort Wayne and now about to visit that 
place on a trading expedition with hats and dried fruits. 
In a letter dated November 26, 1859, Mr. Ross describes 
the peril and exposure of the journey ; how their first 
night's encampment in the woods, a few miles north of 
Dayton, was made memorable by the howling of wolves 
on every side ; how the snow-storm afterward met them 
in the wilderness with intense cold, which froze fast in the 
mud the wheels of their wagon ; how, failing to strike fire 
from the flint, the woodsman's last hope, they were com- 
pelled to leave their conveyance under guard of a faithful 
dog ; how, by walking and leading their horses, the cold 
being too severe to ride, they reached Fort Wayne at a 
late hour on a wintry night ; and with what kindness he 
was received by Samuel Hanna, afterward long an honored 
elder in the Fort Wayne church. Mr. Ross says : 

The next day being the Sabbath, I preached in the fort morning 
and afternoon, because there was no other convenient place to 
preach in. ... I visited the place five times from 1822 to 
1826. I was once sent out to Fort Wayne by the Synod of Ohio. 
In all my visitations I preached in St. Mary's, Shane's Prairie, and 
Willshire, and scattered religious tracts and Bibles. There was 
no place that appeared to me so unpromising as Fort Wayne. 

There was no Sabbath kept, but on the part of a few. 2 

1 Williams's " Historical Sketch," pp. 12, 13. 

2 Williams's " Historical Sketch," pp. 13-5. It was not until November, 1829, that 
any further missionary work was attempted at Fort Wayne. The A. H. M. Society 



I50 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



John Ross, who assisted so prominently in laying the 
foundations of Christian society at Kekionga, had a 
remarkable career. He was born of Roman Catholic 
parents in Dublin, Ireland, July 23, 1783. Early made an 
orphan, he went to Liverpool when about eighteen years 
of age, and became a shoemaker's apprentice. He was 
three times impressed into the British service, the third 
time just as he had completed his apprenticeship. Sent to 
the West Indies, he finally effected an escape with six com- 
rades, and concealing himself in an American vessel landed 
at New London, Conn., hatless, shoeless, and penniless. 
For a time he was employed at his trade, but experiencing 
conversion began a course of study for the Protestant 
ministry. Graduating from Middlebury College and from 
Princeton Seminary at the age of thirty-four, he was mar- 
ried at Stonington, Conn., and labored as a missionary in 
Philadelphia. He was settled at Somerset, Pa., and suc- 
cessively at Gallipolis, Ripley, 1 and the Jersey settlement 
in Butler County, Ohio, coming from the latter parish to 
Richmond, Ind. , in the year 1824. During a pastorate 
there of five years he removed to a farm near the town, 
where he resided for sixteen years, supplying vacancies as 
he was able, and until financial reverses compelled his 
removal. Again becoming a laborious itinerant, his last 

then sent out the Rev. Charles E. Furman, in response to an appeal from Allen Ham- 
ilton, the postmaster, who represented that there were five hundred people there and no 
preaching within eighty miles. Mr. Furman continued his labor in the place for about 
six months. In June, 183 1, the Rev. James Chute, of the Presbytery of Coiumbus, vis- 
ited Fort Wayne, and on the first of July following organized the first Presbyterian 
church, consisting of seven members, Smalwood Noel and John Mcintosh being ruling 
elders. In September, under appointment of the A. H. M. Society, Mr. Chute took up 
his residence in the place. He was born at Boxford, Essex County, Mass., November 
15, 1788 ; graduated from Dartmouth in 1813 ; studied divinity under the tutelage of Dr. 
J. L. Wilson, of Cincinnati; and died at Fort Wayne, December 28, 1S35. Cf. 
4 ' Memoir of the Rev. James Chute," privately printed, 1874. 

1 Mr. Ross was succeeded at Ripley by John Rankin of "underground railroad" 
fame. A son of the latter recollects that the people of the parish used to illustrate the 
amiable unworldliness of Father Ross by narrating how, though without a horse, he 
bought up sets of harness because they were cheap, and in his garden diligently pulled 
up the big corn to give the weaker stalks a chance. 



EXTENSION TOWARD THE NORTH. 151 

settlement was at Burlington, Ind. Overcome finally by 
the infirmities of age, he found a home under the roof of 
his daughter at Tipton, where he lingered until March 1 1 , 
1876, having nearly completed his ninety-third year. He 
was a faithful minister of the New Testament and showed 
through all his public life a trust in providence which early 
perils and deliverances had been well calculated to de- 
velop. 1 

While the new ground in the extreme north was being 
broken the more familiar region along the Ohio was at the 
•same time receiving attention. In the church at New 
Albany, too long neglected, hope was rekindled by the 
coming of a pastor. 

The plat of the city of New Albany had been drafted in 
18 1 3. Five years later than that, however, large trunks of 
trees which had been felled but not removed lay over most 
of the town. 2 But the place had "a steam saw-mill, sev- 
eral stores, mechanics' shops, and a boat yard for the 
building of steamboats." Joel Scribner, a prominent 
landowner and one of the first settlers, was a Presbyterian. 
On the 19th of February, 18 16, a church was organized at 
Jeffersonville, composed of members residing there and at 
New Albany, which was called ' ' The Union Church of Jef- 
fersonville and New Albany." Thomas Posey, governor 
of the territory, and his wife, John Gibson and his wife, 
James M. Tunstal, James Scribner, Joel Scribner, Phebe 
Scribner, Esther Scribner, and Anna M. Gibson consti- 
tuted the membership. Thomas Posey and Joel Scribner 
were chosen elders. Subsequently Mary Merriwether and 
Mary Wilson were admitted to the communion. On the 

1 At the semi-centennial celebration of the Synods of Indiana, October, 1876, it had 
been hoped that " Father Ross'' might be present. But with " Father Johnston," the 
only other representative of the Northern Synod whose service reached back to the 
commencement of the Synodical history, he was summoned hence in March of that year. 
One died on the day of the other's burial. 

2 " Christian Traveller," p. 86. 



152 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

7th of December, 181 7, all the members residing at Jeffer- 
sonville having removed to other churches, the Union 
Church held a meeting at New Albany, with the Rev. D. 
C. Banks as moderator, at which it was resolved that the 
name be changed to the First Presbyterian Church of New 
Albany. At the same time four new members were 
received, making the whole number nine. Isaac Reed, 
the first minister of the society, beginning his service Sep- 
tember 1, 1 8 18, continued as pastor for fifteen months. 
Shortly after his settlement Orin Fowler found him there, 
busily and usefully engaged. Upon Mr. Reed's removal 
the pulpit long remained vacant and the feeble church 
almost died, the comfortable meeting-house having been 
destroyed by fire. It was not until November, 1822, that 
the Rev. Ezra H. Day came to their aid. When inviting 
him to the field the session represented that it was "highly 
important that some effort be made speedily to save this 
wreck of the church and to collect this scattered flock." 
The pastor's arrival at once restored their courage, but 
almost immediately their prospects were darkened again by 
his sudden death. 1 

Ezra H. Day was probably a native of Morristown, 
N. J. He was a member of Westchester Presbytery, 
New York. ' ' His modest unassuming manners, his sound 
judgment and evident piety endeared him," says Dickey, 
"to the few friends who were favored with his acquaint- 
ance." It was, however, the will of God that he should 
fall at his post just as he had proven his peculiar fitness for 
it. A bilious fever, which at the time was prevalent in the 
neighborhood, terminated his life September 22, 1823. 
He was of medium height, not stout, and of fair com- 
plexion. "Gentle, grave, and serious in his walk he made 
the impression upon all that he held close fellowship with 

1 Hovey's " Historical Sermon " in the New Albany Ledger, November 25, 1867, and 
MS. " History of Presbyterianism in New Albany," by the Rev. S. Conn, D.D. 



EXTENSION TOWARD THE NORTH. 



153 



the skies." At the time of his death he was about thirty- 
eight years of age. He left a wife and three children, who 
returned to New Jersey. He was buried in the old Lower 
First Street Cemetery, but the grave cannot be identified. 

It was in 1822 that William Goodell also reached 
Indiana upon his agency for the A. B. C. F. M., which 
had sent him out to the churches to awaken an interest in 
the cause of missions and to raise funds for the work of the 
society. Dr. Rufus Anderson was afterward accustomed 
to say that " Goodell cut a swath through all that region," 
so steadily did contributions flow into the treasury from 
the neighborhoods which had felt his power. He was 
then a fervid young candidate for the foreign mission 
service. Those who heard him on this western tour were 
not surprised that he afterward became a learned linguist, 
a translator of the Bible, an apostle of the New Testament 
pattern, the fragrance of whose life, like a garden of 
spices, is known throughout the Turkish Empire. His 
biographer says : 

Traveling westward into the states of Ohio and Indiana, he 
found in many places an unexpected interest in the cause of mis- 
sions to the dark portions of the world, the result of a gracious 
outpouring of the spirit upon the churches of that comparatively 
new region of country ; but in other places there was literally a 
famine for the bread of life, and the gospel message which he car- 
ried to them was heard with gladness. He wrote at the time 
(February 18, 1822): " There are but two settled ministers, of the 
Presbyterian or Congregational order, in the whole state of 
Indiana. 1 I preached in one place where some of. the people said 
they had heard but three sermons from Presbyterians there 
before." 2 

Besides Ross and Day, separated in their work by 

1 This was far from correct, but only proves how scanty were the means of information 
•even for the most diligent and competent observers. 

2 " Memoirs of Rev. William Goodell, D.D.," by his son in-law, Dr. E. D. G. 
Prime, pp. 68, 69. 



154 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



nearly the entire length of the state, and separated, too, 
by that striking diversity of providence which called one 
immediately from his earthly task and kept the other here 
until more than half a century had been completed ; and 
besides Goodell, the witty, impassioned, and devoted 
friend of the new foreign missionary enterprise, there 
came another from the East to Indiana, a pioneer of the 
pioneers, a missionary of the missionaries, a Hebrew of the 
Hebrews, Charles Beatty's son Charles, who, from his. 
father, one of the founders of the church in western Penn- 
sylvania, had inherited the evangelistic spirit, and was 
hindered only by an event which suddenly changed his 
whole course of life from permanently identifying himself 
with the Indiana settlements. 

Dr. Charles C. Beatty writes : 

I was commissioned by the Board of Missions to labor as a 
missionary in Indiana and adjacent parts of Illinois, commencing in 
Wayne County, Ind. This I did the first of November, 1822, and 
arriving at Indianapolis toward the close of the week, was induced 
by friends there to spend the Sabbath, and preached twice for Mr. 
Proctor. On Tuesday evening I preached across the river on my 
way to Bloomington, preached at that place Wednesday night, and 
left the next day, expecting to reach Mr. Scott's, near Vincennes, by 
Sabbath. But in consequence of a delay at the river I preached 
Friday night at a small place this side and got to Carlisle, where I 
spent the Sabbath, preaching in the meeting-house. On Monday I 
went on to Mr. Scott's, from whom I received valuable information 
as to my field up the Wabash on both sides. He was the preacher 
on the Wabash, missionated much and had the care of the 
churches. I met him afterward on all my visits to that vicinity, 
Vincennes being one of my preaching points. I established a kind 
of circuit, and went round about three times in my four months' 
tour, closing it at Shawneetown early in March. Thence I passed 
into Kentucky, preaching on across to Shelbyville and Louisville, 
from which I crossed to Indiana, visiting Corydon, Washington, 
and Salem, and going thence back to Parke County, where I had 
organized two churches on the Raccoon. 1 These congregations 

1 Shiloh church was organized, with seventeen members, December 17, 1822. Eben- 
ezer church was organized, with nineteen members, January 9, 1823. 



EXTENSION TOWARD THE NORTH. 



155 



made out a call for me and I made arrangements to settle, going 
down with the elder to the Presbytery of Louisville, which met at 
Charlestown, Ind., and passing by Spencer, in Owen County, 
where I assisted the Rev. Isaac Reed in administering the Lord's 
Supper. From there I passed to Bloomington, where I preached, 
and so on to Presbytery. Here I got intelligence of my father's 
death, which ultimately changed my plans. My journal and all 
my papers were left on Raccoon and were never recovered. 

During my four months' service I organized three churches 1 
and rode over all that western region. My farthest points north 
were Crawfordsville 2 and the mouth of Vermillion. Mr. Balch, 
who had brought an emigrating church from east Tennessee to 
Sullivan County, had died before my visit. I knew his children 
and people and held a communion at Turman's Creek church 
with blessed results. At Vincennes I always had large congrega- 
tions, and they wished me to settle there; but there was no church, 
or church members, though I trust my ministry there had some 
fruits. At Terre Haute but few attended. Some were gathered 
at Turman's Creek, at Raccoon, and across in Illinois. 

My field of labor was very new and rough, but the people were 
kind and always gave me the best. I was a constant singer, and 
I believe my singing made me more acceptable — popular than 
my preaching. I found but two places on my whole circuit where 
I could have a room to myself to study, and accordingly wrote no 
sermons, and but few briefs. I studied as I could. I should 
have been very willing to spend my life in a log cabin on 
Raccoon and live on the common fare of the country. I liked 
the people and the work ; but it would have soon used me up. 
All the ministers were agreeable and at the meeting of the Pres- 
bytery of Louisville at Charlestown, which I attended, April, 
1823, it was decided to ask the Synod to setoff the new Pres- 
bytery of Salem ; which was done, and I was then expected to be 
the most remote member of it. 3 

1 The third was Union church, Vigo County, organized January 8, 1823. 

2 Here Mr. Beatty solemnized the first marriage in Montgomery County, Samuel D. 
Maxwell, afterward first mayor of Indianapolis, being the groom. 

3 Letter dated October 9, 1876. Dr. Beatty was present at the semi-centennial cele- 
bration at Indianapolis, October, 1876. Except the Rev. Ravaud K. Rodgers, D.D., 
of Athens, Ga., and the Rev. Samuel G. Lowry, of Oakland, Minn., he was at that time 
the only survivor of all the Indiana missionaries whose service preceded the Synodical 
organization. 



CHAPTER XI. 



The Shadow of Slavery. 
1823. 

Among the missionary appointments to Indiana for 
1823 appears in the records of the Assembly the name of 
Nicholas Pittinger from Ohio. This year brought 
also to the state Joseph Trimble and John Finley Crowe, 
of whom the one was permitted to give almost fifty years 
of toil to the Indiana church, while the other came only to 
die. 

Joseph Trimble, a licentiate of Carlisle Presbytery, 
Pennsylvania, was commissioned to service in the West by 
the General Assembly. He was tall, straight, and of 
rather full habit. At college his fellow-students observed 
the soundness of his judgment and his strong common 
sense. His considerable talents and engaging manners, 
together with the maturity of his piety and zeal, gave 
pleasing promise of usefulness. Reaching Madison in 
June, 1824, during the following month he received a call 
to the pastorate there. On the 10th of August the Pres- 
bytery met in special session to ordain and install him, 
but he was already prostrated with a bilious fever and on 
the day following he died. His co-presbyters assembled at 
his bedside, and with prayer and the singing of a hymn 
commended him to God — a service which is still recalled 
as one of the deepest pathos and solemnity. The doubly 
afflicted church laid him to rest near the beloved and ac- 
complished Searle. Upon the modest tombstone is the 
following inscription : 

i S 6 



THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY. 1 57 

In memory of Joseph Trimble, who departed this life August i i, 
1824, in his 30th year. Mr. Trimble was a graduate of Jefferson 
College, Pennsylvania, and studied theology at Princeton Semi- 
nary ; in 1823 he was licensed to preach the gospel and visited 
Indiana as a missionary; in 1824 he was chosen pastor of the 
Presbyterian church of Madison, but on the very day appointed 
for his ordination was called from his labors on earth to his reward 
in heaven. With talents and accomplishments above mediocrity, 
he was distinguished for his industry and energy, piety, entire 
devotedness to his Master's service, and the success which at- 
tended his labors. For him to live was Christ, to die was gain. 1 

A very different career was destined to be that of John 
Finley Crowe, the founder of Hanover College, who had 
previously crossed from Kentucky into Indiana for mis- 
sionary service, 2 but now came to reside within the bound- 
aries of a free state. Born in Green County, Tenn. , June 
16, 1787, his early boyhood was spent amidst the privations 
of frontier life. The proximity of hostile savages some- 
times summoned his father to the camp. In 1802 the 
family removed to Belle Vue, Mo., where for six years 
young Crowe 3 led a careless and irreligious life. But a 
few Presbyterian families in the neighborhood having es- 
tablished a prayer-meeting, his conscience was awakened 
and he entered upon a Christian career. He was now 
twenty-one years of age and soon began a course of study 
in preparation for the ministry. His opportunities for ob- 
taining knowledge had been few, but he had read with 
avidity all the books in his father's little library and all he 
could borrow from others. At the age of twenty-two he 
left home for Danville, Ky., expecting to enter a school 
there, but upon his arrival he found that the school had 
been disbanded. In this emergency the Rev. Samuel 

1 The place of Searle's and Trimble's sepulture is likely to be abandoned to less sa- 
cred uses at no distant day. The graves are neglected. The freestone slabs are weather- 
beaten, moss-grown, and discolored, so that the inscriptions are scarcely legible. 

2 He had organized Corydon church, Harrison County, January 2, 1819. 
a " Crow " was the orthography in all his own earlier correspondence. 



158 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Finley, pastor of two churches near Lexington, received 
him into his family and gave him instruction. In 181 2, 
becoming a student at Transylvania University, he there 
remained for nearly two years. Returning in September, 
1813, to Missouri, he was united in marriage to Miss Esther 
Alexander. The young couple soon bade adieu to their 
friends, packed their worldly goods into their saddle-bags, 
and started on horseback toward Kentucky. The whole 
distance was traversed, through almost unbroken forests, 
without fear or accident. Both had excellent voices and 
often made the wilderness rejoice with hymns of praise. 
After securing for Mrs. Crowe a home in the family of a 
Kentucky friend, the candidate for holy orders, still riding 
his horse, proceeded to Princeton to complete his studies in 
divinity. 1 After a year in the seminary, he was licensed, 
in 1815, by the Presbytery of New Brunswick. 

Upon the return of Mr. Crowe to Kentucky he supplied 
the churches of Shiloh and Olivet in Shelby County. He 
afterward removed to Shelby ville, where, in addition to 
pastoral labors, he had charge of a female seminary. In 
each of these spheres of labor he was both diligent and 
successful. But the significant feature of his character 
appeared in the fact that at this same period he was editor 
of the Abolition Intelligence!', a bold and prudent opponent 
of slavery upon Kentucky soil. While Dickey and Martin, 
his future friends and companions, had already made their 
escape from the intolerable shadow of the peculiar institu- 
tion, he remained beyond the Ohio. It was not, however, 
to be presumed that even the most cautious defense of 
man's inalienable rights could at that period in Kentucky 
long continue to be either agreeable or safe. It was 
therefore a happy relief to be summoned by providence to 
other duties, north of the fatal border-line. 

1 " During Mr. Crowe's connection with the seminary at Princeton he resided in the 
family of Colonel Beatty and was private tutor to his children, especially his son 
Charles, preparing him for college. C. C. B." 



THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY. 



159 



In 1823 Mr. Crowe received a call to the church at 
Hanover, and soon removed with his family to that place, 
just in time to be one of the original members of the first 
Indiana Presbytery, now shortly to be convened. In this 
new field he at once entered assiduously upon missionary 
labors, seeking, in cooperation with his brethren, to carry 
the gospel to the whole surrounding wilderness. 1 ' He 
manifested great interest in securing laborers for this terri- 
tory," wrote the Rev. James H. Johnston, 1 "and was 
instrumental in doing much for the accomplishment of this 
object." It was the lack of laborers, daily pressed upon 
his attention as he rode among the multiplying settle- 
ments, that from the first unconsciously urged him toward 
the enterprise which became the distinguishing incident 
of his career. If ministers enough could not be gotten 
from abroad, was it not possible to make them here at 
home? This problem burned in his bones. It never 
let him rest. It was the quiet but constant passion of 
his subsequent life, enabling him without the endowments 
of genius and in the use of such scanty and homely 
materials and methods as the frontier offered, to project 
and achieve an enterprise of the greatest utility. 

On the first of January, 1827, he opened a school for 
boys in a log house on his own premises. Before the close 
of a week six students were enrolled, and this little school 
was the beginning of Hanover College and of Indiana 
Theological Seminary, now the McCormick Seminary at 
Chicago. Through manifold vicissitudes and perils he 
continued to guard and aid this child of his faith and 
prayer for more than thirty years. In connection with 
the school he held the pastorate of the church until 1832, 
when he began to devote himself exclusively to the 
college, either as instructor or financial agent. In 1838 

1 In a letter to Professor Joshua B. Garritt, whose own MSS. have greatly aided the 
preparation of this sketch. 



l6o EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



he again assumed charge of the church, retaining it until 
1847, when once more he gave all his time to the college. 
He continued in its service until laid aside from active 
duties by a stroke of paralysis in January, 1859. From 
this stroke he recovered in a great measure, and was able 
to occupy himself with the preparation of a history of the 
institution, in founding which his own instrumentality had 
been so conspicuous. 1 Finally, January 17, i860, in the 
seventy-third year of his age, he fell asleep. 

The qualities which marked Dr. Crowe, and admirably 
fitted him for his task, were conscientiousness, industry, 
and perseverance. In early life he enjoyed few of those 
facilities for intellectual culture which are now common, 
and it was not until his majority had been reached that he 
turned toward a professional career. Yet he became an 
instructive preacher ; as a teacher he secured in a high 
degree the respect and affection of large numbers of intelli- 
gent pupils ; while his undoubted sincerity and uniform 
courtesy and dignity everywhere enhanced his influence. 
Says one of his Hanover students : 2 

Tall, symmetrical in form, stately and dignified in appearance, 
kind and paternal in manner, Dr. Crowe was my beau ideal of 
a Christian gentleman. He was my first preceptor and spiritual 
guide, after my own father, and next to my father I learned to 
love him. 

Dr. Edwards adds : 

There have been more profound scholars ; there have been 
more brilliant popular preachers ; there have been few kinder, 
more courteous gentlemen, few more consistent Christians. 3 

Among the services rendered by Dr. Crowe must also 
be emphasized his continued advocacy of the principles 

1 The MS. has not been printed. 

2 The Rev. William M. Cheever. 

3 Dr. J. Edwards's " Address at the Dedication of the Chapel and Library of the Sem- 
inary of the Northwest," p. is. 



THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY. 



161 



of civil freedom. The ministers of the old Synod of 
Indiana, coming in the main from the Southern States, 
were most intelligent and positive in their opposition to 
slavery, and consistent in their efforts for its removal. 
The constitutional prudence of Dr. Crowe did not prevent 
frequent references to the subject upon public occasions. 
At the meeting of Synod in October, 1827, 

a memorial on this subject, addressed to the General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian Church, which had been prepared by Rev. 
J. Finley Crowe, was presented for our adoption and received 
the ready and cordial concurrence of the entire Synod. This was 
but nine years after the adoption by our General Assembly of 
those noble resolutions of 1818 in which that body had declared 
by a unanimous vote: "We consider the voluntary enslaving 
of one part of the human race by another as a gross violation 
of the most precious and sacred rights of human nature, as utterly 
inconsistent with the law of God, which requires us to love 
our neighbor as ourselves ; and as totally irreconcilable with the 
spirit and principles of the gospel of Christ, which enjoins that all 
things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye 
even so to them." . . . The object of the memorial adopted 
by our Synod, at the meeting referred to, was simply to call 
the attention of the Assembly to those strong and decided utter- 
ances made but nine years before, and to urge the importance 
of such action on the part of the Assembly, from year to year, as 
would prove that those were made in sincerity and truth. 1 

The fate of this document was like that of many similar 
deliverances of those stormy days. It was deftly deposited 
in the waste-basket by the Rev. Dr. Leland, of South 
Carolina, chairman of the Committee on Bills and Over- 
tures. 2 

1 Johnston's " Ministry of Forty Years in Indiana," pp. 12, 13. 

2 See Johnston, pp. 15, 16. 



CHAPTER XII. 



The First Presbytery. 
1823, 1824. 

The origin of the oldest Indiana Presbytery is described 
by Dickey in his " Brief History." 1 He says : 2 

Previous to October, 1823, the churches in the state of Indiana 
within the bounds of the Synod of Kentucky were under the care 
of the Louisville Presbytery, which generally met in the fall in 
Kentucky and in the spring in Indiana. By an act of the Synod, 
October, 1823, all that part of the state of Indiana which lies west 
of a line due north from the mouth of the Kentucky River was 
constituted into a new Presbytery, denominated the Salem Pres- 
bytery, which at its formation consisted of the following members, 
viz. : William Robinson, John Todd, Samuel T. Scott, William W. 
Martin, John M. Dickey, John F. Crow, and Isaac Reed. In 
October, 1824, all that part of the state of Illinois belonging to the 
Synod of Kentucky, which lies north of a line due west from the 
mouth of White River, was added to this Presbytery. At the 
same time that part of the state of Indiana which lies south and 
west of the following lines, viz. : beginning opposite the mouth of 
Green River, running due north twenty miles, thence north- 
westerly to the mouth of White River, was attached to Muhlen- 
burg Presbytery. The Salem Presbytery held its first meeting at 
Salem in April, 1824. All the ministers belonging to the 
Presbytery were present except one, who was prevented by age 
and infirmity. 3 

The following is a transcript of the records of the first 
meeting of Salem Presbytery : 

Salem, April 1, 1824. The Salem Presbytery met agreeably to 

1 For the earlier ecclesiastical relations of the Indiana Presbyterians see Appendix II. 

2 Pp. 19, 20. 

3 The absentee was William Robinson. 

162 



THE FIRST PRESBYTERY. 



a resolution of the Synod of Kentucky and was opened with a 
sermon by the Rev. Samuel T. Scott on Ephesians iv. : 3, 4, and 
was constituted by prayer. Members present : Samuel T. Scott, 
John Todd, John M. Dickey, William W. Martin, Isaac Reed, and 
John F. Crow, ministers ; with Lemuel Ford, Alexander Walker, 
William Reed, John Holme, James McPheeters, James Carnahan, 
Thomas N. White, Jonathan E. Garrison, William Alexander, 
Peter Ryker, John Martin, Samuel S. Graham, and Andrew Weir, 
elders. Absent, the Rev. William Robinson. Mr. Crow was 
chosen moderator, and Mr. Dickey clerk. Messrs. Todd, Dickey, 
and Alexander were appointed a committee to prepare a standing 
docket. Messrs. W. W. Martin, Dickey, and White were 
appointed a committee to prepare a narrative on the state of 
religion, and Messrs. Scott, I. Reed, and Ford were appointed a 
committee to prepare a Presbyterial report. 

Resolved, That the rules appended to the new edition of the 
Confession of Faith be adopted as general rules for the govern- 
ment of this Presbytery. 

Resolved, That William W. Martin, Isaac Reed, and Samuel S. 
Graham be a committee to prepare a system of by-laws for this 
Presbytery. A call having been presented to the Louisville 
Presbytery by the Salem congregation for one half of the minis- 
terial labors of the Rev. Wm. W. Martin, which business properly 
belongs now to the Salem Presbytery, therefore 

Resolved, That the installation of Mr. Martin be the order of the 
day for Saturday at 11 o'clock ; and that Mr. Scott preach the ser- 
mon, and Mr. Dickey preside and give the charge. Rev. William 
Martin and Lemuel Ford, an elder of the Charlestown church, 
were appointed commissioners to the next General Assembly. 

Mr. Tilly H. Brown presented himself to Presbytery as a candi- 
date for the gospel ministry and requested to be taken under its 
care. 

Resolved, That the request of Mr. Brown be attended to 
to-morrow morning, 8 o'clock. Petitions for supplies were made 
by the churches of Jefferson, Shiloh, Washington, Graham, Blue 
River, Dartmouth, and Bloomington. Presbytery then adjourned 
till to-morrow morning, 8 o'clock. Concluded with prayer. 

April 2. Presbytery met according to adjournment and was 
constituted with prayer. Members present as on yesterday. The 
minutes of the last session were then read and Presbytery pro- 
ceeded to the consideration of Mr. Brown's request. 

Whereas, Mr. Brown has been under the care of the Louisville 



164 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Presbytery and examined on experimental religion and his motives 
for seeking the sacred office, likewise on the Latin and Greek lan- 
guages, geography and astronomy, which examinations were sus- 
tained, and he was directed by the Louisville Presbytery to prepare 
a lecture on Matthew v.: 17-20, and a sermon on 1st John ii.: 2 ; 
but while attending to the above parts of trial he was dismissed 
at his own request on account of ill health ; therefore 

Resolved, That Mr. Brown be received agreeably to his request 
and that he prepare a lecture and a sermon on the subjects assigned 
him, against the next meeting of this Presbytery, and that he at- 
tend also to theology and other studies under the direction of Mr. 
Crow, with a view to his licensure. 

The committee to prepare a standing docket presented their 
report, which was approved and adopted and is as follows : 
1st. The choice of a moderator and clerk. 2d. The reading of the 
general rules and by-laws. 3d. The reading of the minutes of 
the last stated sessions. 4th. Calls and supplications. 5th. The 
appointment of committees : ( 1 ) to examine the sessional records ; 
(2) to prepare a Presbyterial report; (3) to prepare a narrative 
on the state of religion; (4) to settle with the treasurer; (5) to 
report to the Board of Education. 6th. An inquiry into the state 
of religion within our bounds. 7th. An inquiry respecting educa- 
tion of youth for the ministry. 8th. A call for sessional records. 
9th. A call for congregational reports. 10th. Unfinished busi- 
ness of last Presbytery, nth. Appointment of commissioners to 
the General Assembly. 12th. A call for monies collected (1) for 
the education fund; (2) for the commissioners' fund; (3) for the 
missionary fund ; (4) for the Presbyterial fund; (5) for the theo- 
logical seminary. 13th. Appointments to supply. 14th. The time 
and place of the next meeting of Presbytery. 

William W. Martin was chosen stated clerk of Presbytery and 
John M. Dickey treasurer. The committee to prepare a system of 
by-laws made their report, which was amended and adopted and 
is as follows : 1st. The Salem Presbytery shall have two stated 
sessions in the year, one in April and one in October, and these 
shall be in rotation in the churches. 2d. Presbytery shall carefully 
inquire into the state of the churches under its care and particu- 
larly that church in the bounds of which the Presbytery may 
meet. 3d. Presbytery shall establish a fund to defray its inci- 
dental expenses, to which at each stated meeting each member 
shall contribute fifty cents. 4th. The Presbytery shall take 
measures to defray the expense of their commissioner to the 



THE FIRST PRESBYTERY. 



I6 5 



General Assembly, and shall require the churches under its care 
to take up collections and forward the money to the spring- 
meetings of Presbytery. 5th. The Presbytery enjoins it on all 
the churches under its care to make some pecuniary compensa- 
tion for missionary labors spent among them or occasional sup- 
plies sent them by Presbytery. 6th. The sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper shall be administered at each stated meeting of Presby- 
tery, under the direction of the moderator with the sessions of the 
church where the Presbytery may meet. 7th. Presbytery shall 
spend a part of the first day of its meeting, if convenient, in 
stated prayer to God for the outpouring of his spirit on the 
churches, for unanimity and harmony in the efforts of the Pres- 
bytery in promoting the divine glory by the salvation of souls ; 
and the moderator shall direct in these exercises. 8th. This 
Presbytery shall use vigorous exertions to educate poor and pious 
youth for the gospel ministry, and in this way endeavor to supply 
the vacant churches with the means of grace. 9th. Presbytery 
shall require the churches to forward their congregational reports 
to the spring meetings of Presbytery and their sessional records 
and reports to the fall meetings. 10th. Presbytery shall at each 
spring meeting consider the expediency of addressing a pastoral 
letter to the churches under its care. nth. A missionary sermon 
shall be preached at each stated meeting and a collection for the 
purpose of missions within our bounds shall be taken up. 12th. 
Presbytery shall require the churches under its care to assemble 
regularly for social prayer on vacant Sabbaths, under the direc- 
tion of the ruling elders of the several churches. To this profit- 
able exercise the Presbytery call the attention of their beloved 
people. 13th. Presbytery most earnestly recommend to the 
elders of vacant churches to attend to catechetical instruction of 
the youth of the congregation and that they particularly impress 
on professing parents to pray in their families and to bring up 
their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 

Resolved, That each member take a copy of the two last 
articles of the by-laws and that the stated clerk furnish with a 
copy the churches not represented at this meeting. 

Received for the commissioners' fund from the church of 
Indianapolis $4 ; from Bethany church, $3 ; from Bloomington, 
$4.25 ; from New Lexington, $2.50. Received from the members 
for the Presbyterial fund, $7.50. 

Resolved, That the committee on the state of religion also pre- 



1 66 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



pare a pastoral letter to be addressed to the churches and that the 
Rev. Isaac Reed be added to that committee. 

Presbytery then proceeded to a free conversation on the state of 
religion within the bounds of the Presbytery. Mr. Henry Rice, 
an elder in the church of Corydon, appeared in Presbytery and 
took his seat. Adjourned till to-morrow morning at 8 o'clock. 
Concluded with prayer. 

April 3d. Presbytery met according to adjournment and was 
constituted by prayer. Members present as on yesterday. The 
committee to make a narrative of the state of religion reported, 
which was approved and adopted. The committee to prepare a 
Presbyterial report reported, which was approved. The stated 
clerk was directed to forward the Presbyterial report and the 
narrative of the state of religion to the stated clerk of the General 
Assembly in due time, and also to the Society of Inquiry in 
Princeton Theological Seminary. 

Messrs. Crow, Dickey, W. Reed, Walker, and Ford were 
appointed a committee of education to devise ways and means for 
the education of poor and pious youths for the ministry, and that 
they report at the spring meeting of Presbytery. The committee 
to prepare a pastoral letter was ordered to have it printed and 
sent to the churches in the bounds of this Presbytery. 

Mr. Scott was appointed to supply one Sabbath at Washington, 
one at Carlisle, and one at Hopewell ; Mr. Todd, three Sabbaths, 
one in New Albany, one in Graham church, and one in Mr. John 
Martin's neighborhood ; Mr. Dickey, one Sabbath in Nazareth 
church ; Mr. Martin, one Sabbath in Corydon, one in Blooming- 
ton, and one in Terre Haute ; Mr. Reed, one Sabbath at New 
Albany, one at Indianapolis, one at Crawfordsville, and one In 
Shiloh church ; Mr. Crow, one Sabbath at Dartmouth, one at 
Bloomington, one at Washington, and one at Jefferson church. 

Resolved, That Presbytery aid as far as possible Samuel Gregg 
and James Crawford at the Princeton Seminary, now prosecuting 
their studies, and that contributions be made in the churches for 
that object. 

Mr. Martin was appointed to preach the missionary sermon at 
the next stated meeting of Presbytery. 

Saturday, 11 o'clock, Mr. Martin was installed pastor of Salem 
church. Presbytery then adjourned to meet at Charlestown the 
second Friday of October, 12 o'clock. Concluded with prayer. 

John F. Crow, Moderator. 
John M. Dickey, Clerk. 



THE FIRST PRESBYTERY. 



167 



These are the records of a small beginning indeed, but 
•every line has life in it. There is only a handful of people, 
but the men are good and true, and the great harvests 
that have grown from the seed they sowed will surprise no 
intelligent student of Christian history. 

Tilly H. Brown, the young man who at this first 
meeting of the first Presbytery applied for licensure, and 
whose studies had already been delayed by feeble health, 
never sufficiently recovered his strength to endure the 
hardships of the frontier ministry. A native of Fitchburg, 
Mass., he was licensed October 9, 1824 (the first Presby- 
terian licensure in Indiana); was ordained and installed 
over Bethlehem and Blue River churches June 25, 1825 ; 
served them one year, found his health again failing, 
engaged in teaching, and died in 1849, at the age of fifty- 
four. He showed a remarkable degree of conscientious 
devotion to the Master's work. 

John T. Hamilton, in 1823 receiving licensure from 
Muhlenburg Presbytery, came to Indiana in July of the 
year following and connected himself with Salem Presby- 
tery, October, 1826. He was another of the Presby- 
terians preordained to teach a school, but on alternate 
Sabbaths until February, 1828, he also occupied the 
pulpit of the New Albany church. This society had 
suffered greatly since the death of Mr. Day in September, 
1823. They were in a condition to receive gratefully even 
a partial dispensation of the Word. ' ' During this period 
it is worthy of being recorded to the praise of God's grace 
that the members of the church were generally bound to 
each other in Christian love, liberal in their contributions, 
active in the promotion of benevolent associations, and 
considerably regular in their attendance on religious meet- 
ings, both public and social." 



1 68 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

While engaged at New Albany Mr. Hamilton for two- 
years gave a part of his time to the Charlestown congrega- 
tion. In the following note to the pastor at Madison, 
dated Charlestown, September 30, 1826, he briefly alludes 
to a "peril" which St. Paul must have omitted from 
his famous catalogue only because he had never en- 
countered it : 

Dear Brother : I have appointed a sacramental meeting in this 
place on the third Sabbath in October and I earnestly desire your 
assistance on that occasion. Since I made the appointment I have 
taken the fever and ague, and am unable to do anything. My 
family are all sick. Do come if possible. 

Near the close of his term of service at New Albany Mr. 
Hamilton removed his family to Louisville, where he en- 
gaged in teaching. He was dismissed to Louisville Pres- 
bytery April 4, 1828. " The members of the church were 
much distressed after his departure, and while they sought 
in various ways to obtain assistance they gave themselves 
unto prayer that God would succeed their endeavors and 
send them a minister of his own choosing." 1 "A modest, 
retiring man he preached the truth in the love of it, and 
the congregation was warmly attached to him." 2 

1 Cf. "Records of New Albany Session." 

2 Conn's MS. " History of Presbyterianism in New Albany." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Help from Princeton. 
1824. 

With the establishment of Salem Presbytery a new and 
-more hopeful prospect opens. Thus far the work had been 
too transient and uncertain. A considerable number of 
.men, thirty-five or forty in all, had come and gone as 
itinerants. Of the actual settlers Baldridge had removed 
to Ohio, Proctor to Kentucky, and Balch, Hickman, Searle, 
Day, and Trimble, more than one third of the entire com- 
pany of residents, had died. All except the first of these 
in youth or early manhood had yielded to the violent 
maladies of the new country. Of the seven remaining to 
"form the Presbytery, two, Scott and Robinson, were near 
the end of their journey. John Ross was settling at Rich- 
mond just about the time of the Salem meeting, but he was 
<east of the Presbyterial limit, within the bounds of Miami. 

The little band immediately received, however, most val- 
uable accessions. With the exception of Samuel Taylor, 
.sent to Morgan County by the Assembly's committee, 
•those who arrived in 1824 became residents. Tilly H. 
Thrown and John T. Hamilton have already been mentioned. 
The remaining five constitute a remarkable company of 
enthusiastic Princeton fellow-students. Bush, the com- 
mentator ; Hall, first principal of the Bloomington State 
.Seminary ; Williamson, from Cumberland Valley, Pa. ; 
Young, an early victim of the prevailing disease ; and 
Johnston, for Indiana the most notable name of all. 

George Bush was a scholar whom the world now 
claims. Born in Norwich, Vt., June 12, 1796, educated at 

169 



170 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Dartmouth, whence he graduated in 18 18 1 with the highest 
honors, completing the theological course at Princeton ; 
serving as tutor in Princeton College ; licensed by the 
Presbytery of New York, 2 preaching for a time at Morris- 
town, N. J., he came to Indiana, taking charge of the 
congregation at the capital. At Dartmouth, Dr. Marsh, 
subsequently of the Vermont University, Professor Thomas 
C. Upham, of Bowdoin, and Rufus Choate had been his. 
classmates, the latter his roommate and friend. Mr. Bush 
brought with him from Dartmouth and Princeton not 
a little distinction for classical and oriental scholarship, and 
for graces of style in literary composition, 3 a reputation 
which his subsequent career fully justified. 

On the 9th of July, 1824, Mr. Bush arrived at Indian- 
apolis, having obtained a commission apparently from the 
Assembly's Committee of Missions. 4 He at once began to 
preach in the court-house, the meeting-house being still 
incomplete. September 6 the congregation ' 1 voted unani- 
mously by ballot that they are desirous to settle Mr. Bush 
as their pastor, 5 and appointed Daniel Yandes, Obed 
Foote, and Isaac Coe a committee to circulate a subscrip- 
tion for his support." At the schoolroom in the church, 
Saturday afternoon, September 18, at 3 o'clock, a meeting 
of the society, of which the Rev. Isaac Reed was modera- 

1 David C. Proctor, his predecessor at Indianapolis, was a classmate. 

2 " Minutes Salem Presbytery," Vol. I., p. 16. Dr. Coe's MS. " History of the First 
Church, Indianapolis " agrees with the above. According to Dickey's history (p. 16) Mr. 
Bush was a licentiate of New Brunswick Presbytery. 

3 See an appreciative notice of Bush in Griswold's "Prose Writers of America,"' 
pp. 354-6. 

* This is the statement in Coe's MS. Itseems to be implied in Gillett's reference to. 
the matter, Vol. II., p. 409. The next year his commission was from the United Domes- 
tic Missionary Society of New York, " for twelve months from May 16, 1825."-^-" Fourth 
Annual Report of U. D. M. S.," p. 25. 

5 The congregation had previously, after Mr. Proctor's removal, made unsuccessful 
overtures to the Revs. Samuel D. Hoge and Wm. W. Martin, the latter, however, not 
receiving the invitation from the irregular post until months had elapsed and negotiations- 
with Mr. Bush had begun. 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 



171 



tor, formally extended him a unanimous call, and Isaac 
Coe, Caleb Scudder, James Blake, Alexander Frazer, 
William W. Wick, and James M. Ray were directed to 
sign the call for the congregation. Mr. Bush was accord- 
ingly ordained 1 and installed by Salem Presbytery, March 
5, 1825, his examination and trials having been unani- 
mously, and, as the record suggests, with unusual 
cordiality, sustained. Crowe, Dickey, and Reed con- 
ducted the service. Immediately after Mr. Bush returned 
to the East, to attend the General Assembly, bringing 
back with him in July his newly-married wife, an accom- 
plished daughter of the Hon. Lewis Condict, of Morris- 
town, N. J. 

The settlement of such a man in the aguish little hamlet, 
surrounded by bogs, overshadowed by the "forest prime- 
val," and overgrown with dog-fennel, was a great event. 
He immediately drew about him the most thoughtful 
and prominent citizens. He easily made friends. Tasks 
laid upon him by the Presbytery he cheerfully assumed. 
Frequent calls for aid at ' ' sacramental meetings ' ' he 
willingly accepted. The literary work that controlled his 
later activity was already taking possession of him. Under 
his leadership the prospects of the Indianapolis flock 
seemed most flattering. 

It could not be expected, however, that his original and 
erratic genius would long be satisfied with the old paths. 
Some of the more intelligent listeners occasionally heard a 
sentence that startled them. The session, representing a 
good deal of Scottish fervor and possibly a very little 
Caledonian obstinacy, were alarmed. About December 1, 
1826, Mr. Bush declared from the pulpit that there was not 
a shadow of scriptural authority for the Presbyterian form 
of church government. 2 This led to numerous conferences 

1 This was the first Presbyterian ordination in Indiana. Reed's " Christian Traveller," 
p. 200. 

2 See Coe's MS. history. 



172 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



between the pastor and the elders, and Mr. Bush pre- 
sented in writing a statement of his opinions concerning 
the questions in dispute. This statement refers to eight 
separate points, as follows : 

( 1 ) . . . It is not clear that there is any other visible church 
besides this on the earth. I cannot therefore at the present time 
agree to the definition of the church given in the confession, as it 
would seem to exclude all who have not made a profession 
though they may all belong to the spiritual body of Christ. 

(2) The great objection I have to the Presbyterian scheme lies 
in this, that it holds forth a vast visible body which is said to be 
in the order of nature prior to single or particular churches, 
. . . with jurisdiction over the component parts. I object to 
it because I do not find Scripture warrant for the existence of 
such a body, and moreover because I perceive it is precisely on 
that foundation that the kingdom of anti-Christ was erected. 
For if the united body of Christ is to be considered as visible, it 
will naturally lead to a visible head, the fountain of church 
power, and whether this be in the shape of a pope or General 
Assembly the principle is the same, and for aught I can see the 
consequences will be likely to be the same. Both are opposed 
to the supreme headship of Christ ; not but the Presbyterian 
system may be carried on for a length of time without any very 
great abuses, but I conceive the tendency is such as I have 
intimated. 

(3) I hold to associations of churches and pastors for purposes 
of mutual edification and cooperation in advancing the interests 
of truth and godliness. But I object to them being regarded as 
stated tribunals, and would abolish such terms as "courts" and 
"judicatories," as tending insensibly to beget wrong ideas of the 
true nature of such councils of Christ's servants ; neither would I 
have them organized in several grades. 

(4) I object to that feature of the confession which insists so 
strenuously on complete uniformity in this respect ; nor does it 
appear to be consistent with other parts of the system, as may be 
shown. 

(5) It appears that the Presbyterian view of the visible church 
leads to great laxness in the admission of members, this right of 
admission not being grounded upon the evidence of reality of 
conversion, but upon a profession of it. 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 



173 



(6) As to a single church I hold that the government is vested 
in the proper officers of the church, which are elders and 
deacons, although I consider that it is the duty of the whole 
church to judge of any important business in the church, and 
that every affair of moment should be done with their knowledge 
and concurrence, and generally in their presence. . 

(7) 1 hold that in every rightly constituted church there should 
be a plurality of elders, that these constitute what is properly 
called the "eldership" or "presbytery" of a church, which I 
conceive is all the presbytery spoken of in the Scriptures. These 
elders I regard as all pastors, whose duty it is to feed the flock of 
Christ and to rule in it by his word, not lording it over God's 
heritage, but being ensamples ; that they are all of equal 
authority ; that they are all equally the clergy ; that the title " lay 
elder" is improper; that although the officer is the same, yet 
there are different departments, among which "laboring in word 
and doctrine" is the principal, and entitles the incumbent to 
pecuniary support. Though cases might occur in which even all 
the elders in a church might properly receive maintenance from 
the church. All that is here asserted I conceive may be fairly 
proved from the word of God, and also that the practices and 
notions now prevalent respecting the elder's office may be traced 
to the ambition of the clergy. 

(8) I hold that ordination confers no office power whatever, but 
merely recognizes such power or character already conferred by 
the Holy Ghost. Hence the presbytery of a single church might 
lawfully ordain an elder without the concurrence of any other 
person. Although I would esteem it most prudent and becoming, 
whenever it was practicable, to obtain such concurrence. 

This statement was not calculated to reassure the minds 
of sturdy Presbyterians. They thought Mr. Bush's system 
"agreed with no other on earth, was erroneous in theory 
and unattainable in practice, as well as inconsistent with 
itself." 1 They thought it, however, desirable to retain 
their minister, if he would refrain from the public ex- 
pression of his peculiar opinions. This, of course, Mr. 
Bush would not consent to, and the negotiation was 
terminated where it began by the departure of Mr. Bush 

1 Dr. Coe's manuscript. 



174 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



for the East in April, 1827, to attend the Assembly and to 
advocate in that region the claims of the Home Missionary 
Society. 1 

He writes to a friend from Princeton, June 3, as follows : 

As our session, that of the Assembly I mean, has just closed, 
and I have a little leisure, it will not probably be unacceptable to 
receive a little sketch of our proceedings. . . . And, imprimis, 
the petition of the Synod respecting the boundary line between us 
and Ohio failed. . . . The next matter of moment is the busi- 
ness of the Western Seminary. This is to be located at Allegheny 
and Dr. Janeway is to be professor ; at least he is chosen, though 
he has not signified his acceptance. There was a strong pull and 
a strong vote for Walnut Hills, and if the vote had been taken 
again, an hour after it was, Walnut Hills would have got it. The 
votes were 44 to 42. I gave my voice for Allegheny on the ground 
that it would be better supported at that place than the other. 
The grand objections to Allegheny were that it was not central 
and that it would interfere with Princeton — serious difficulties, I 
acknowledge, but I am not sure that we want such a seminary as 
is contemplated any farther west, and therefore did not plead 
hard for Charlestown, 2 which would have stood no chance against 
the formidable bids of the other two sites. 

And now a few words for myself. It is uncertain whether I 
return to the West. This I say, not because I have secretly 
resolved not to return, but to pre-intimate to you not to be sur- 
prised in case I should openly resolve in this way. You will 
at once inquire, What has happened to make it uncertain? I 
answer, Nothing new. The old sore still runs and the symptoms 
are worse. Shall I return to Indianapolis merely to tear a peaceful 
church to pieces, and stand in such a peculiarly unpleasant rela- 
tion to my former brethren, whom I dearly love, but who could 
not act with me on any other ground than that of strict Presbyteri- 
anism? What shall I do ? I am willing to go to the West and live 
and die there. But I could not live at Indianapolis except as 
a Presbyterian, and where else in the state would you as a friend 

1 At the first anniversary of the society, in May, he presented one of the resolutions in 
an important address. See first report of A. H. M. S., p. 6. 

2 Clark County, Ind., would seem to be rather a feeble rival of Allegheny and Walnut 
Hills, as a site for a divinity school. There was no audacity of faith of which these 
pioneers were incapable, however. And three years later they sent off Dr. Crowe to 
Virginia for Dr. Matthews, and successfully opened the Theological School at Hanover. 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 



i75 ; 



advise me to go ? How am I racked with a troubled mind. And 
among the worst of all thoughts is this, that you and others will 
think the cause insignificant. But whether little or great, it is/ 
with me purely a matter of conscience, and its dictates I must 
follow. Pray let me hear from you. Direct to Morristown. Myi 
work 1 is now in the press at this place. The system and plan of < 
the questions is highly approved, so far as it has been examined. , 
As to my agency 2 I am thinking of setting out immediately or; 
of getting released. 

The following day from New York he writes to a 
member of the session, 3 and after alluding again to the' 
possibility of remaining in the East, and assuring his cor- 
respondent that it is " not from any dissatisfaction with the 
place or country," he continues : 

I am perfectly willing to live and die in Indiana. I am strongly 
attached to the dear people with whom I have lived and labored. 
Indeed I knew not till since I have left them how much I loved 
them. But the reason of my hesitation about returning is I cannot 
hope to serve God according to those rules which I conscientiously 
believe he has laid down in his word for the government of his 
people. I wish, therefore, to be placed in a situation where I 
can act upon those principles of church order which the great Head 
of the church has instituted and enjoined. In several important 
points I do not regard the Presbyterian polity as being that which 
Christ has established, or which I can properly countenance even 
by the slender influence of my example or practice. 

The grand features of the scheme to which I principally object 
are the authority claimed by their courts, for which I find no war- ( 
rant in Scripture ; and the admission, expulsion, and discipline of 
members being carried on without the presence and concurrence 
of the body of the believers. Not that all are officers by any 
means ; the exclusive performance of these duties belongs to the 
proper officers whom Christ hath appointed. But this power is to 
be exercised in the body and not out of it. . . . 

Such are briefly my views on this point, and from all that is past 
have I not every reason to believe that I could not return and 

1 This was the germ of his commentaries. 

2 For the American Home Missionary Society. 

3 Mr. Ebenezer Sharpe. 



176 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



endeavor to have the church modelled on these principles without 
tearing it to pieces ? And in its present infant state would it be 
wisdom or duty to think of such a thing? Let me say, however, I 
do not wish to set up entirely another church, nor would my 
principles lead to any such consequences ; but all I wish is to 
keep as close as possible to the New Testament model, for I 
should then feel safest and have most hope of the presence and 
blessing of Christ. And I have learned that there are many 
churches in the Presbyterian connection which deviate still more 
widely than I propose from the authorized platform. I submit 
these views of the matter to your candid and Christian considera- 
tion, and as I began by saying that I now feel somewhat uncertain 
whether I shall return to remain permanently in Indiana, I wish, 
however, to hear from you as soon as practicable, as your answer 
will probably govern my final decision. 

On receiving a reply to the foregoing Mr. Bush wrote, 
August 23, 1827, from Morristown : 

I am willing to refer the matter to the Presbytery or Synod. Let 
either of these bodies be selected as judges, and if they upon a fair 
representation of the case declare that I cannot act conscientiously 
as a Presbyterian pastor, and that it would be improper and unfa- 
vorable to the interests of religion that your church should employ 
me, I will submit to the decision, withdraw from the connection, 
and endeavor to serve God and my generation some other way. 
. . . On mature consideration I am not clear that my opinions 
of church government are unequivocally hostile to the confession 
when rightly understood. Therefore, it seems to me that so long as 
I do nothing and say nothing contrary to the true intent of the ac- 
knowledged standards of the church I ought not to be excluded from 
a post of usefulness which I have made great sacrifices to attain. 

Late in the summer Mr. Bush returned to Indiana. 
But other clouds gathered about him. Theological 
debate was for the time abruptly closed, and all hearts 
were touched with sympathy by the severe illness of the 
pastor's accomplished and amiable wife. On the ninth of 
November she fell asleep. On the occasion of her funeral 1 

1 Mrs. Bush lies buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, Indianapolis. The following is the 
inscription on the native stone: " Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Anna B. Bush, con- 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 



177 



the Rev. William Lowry, whose lamented death in the 
swollen Whitewater occurred soon after, delivered a dis- 
course remarkable for its beauty and power. 

The conflict, however, of a mind like that of Mr. Bush 
with the Presbyterian system, and with every fixed and 
rigorous system, was inevitable. Sorrow might interrupt 
the debate, but it could not solve the problem. Indeed it 
is more than likely that the wise influence of Mrs. Bush 
upon her husband had delayed his erratic course and 
prevented a much earlier divergence from the old paths. 1 
At any rate, events were rapidly precipitated after the 
wife's hand had been withdrawn. 

On the 25th of February, 1828, Mr. Bush addressed a 
letter to the session setting forth the terms, under three 
particulars, on which he was ' ' willing to live and if it 
(should) be the Lord's will to die among the people 
of his charge." The three particulars were : (1) that 
the brethren have the privilege of being present at all 
meetings of the session ; (2) that he might consider him- 
self to have the hearty concurrence of the session in his 
privilege of talking, writing, publishing, or preaching, 
relative to the constitution, laws, and order of the church, 
whatever, whenever, wherever, and in what way soever he 
might think proper, if consistent with his general duty to 
Christ ; (3) that three hundred dollars be provided annu- 
ally for three fourths of his time, and as much more be 
paid him as might be raised. 

This communication was succeeded by a lengthy and 
tedious correspondence, in which not the slightest prog- 
ress was made. It was the old meeting between ' ' two 
irresistible forces"- — a mind so independent that it first 

sort of the Rev. George Bush, and daughter of the Hon. Lewis Condict, M. C, of 
Morristown, New Jersey. She died strong in the Christian hope, November 9th, 1827, 
aged xxvii. Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints." 

1 The hiding of Glass's " Works " from her husband was one of the wifely expedients 
recalled by an Indianapolis friend. 



,178 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

imagined chains and then chafed under them, and a half 
dozen Virginia and Kentucky Calvinists representing the 
venerable and symmetrical system of our church. The 
congregation was finally convened, March 10, 1828 ; Dr. 
Coe presented an elaborate defense of Presbyterian polity, 
and after considerable discussion and an adjournment till 
evening, application was made to Wabash Presbytery for a 
dissolution of the pastoral relation. The petition was 
granted at a special meeting at Indianapolis June 22, 1828. 
'Mr. Bush brought the subject before Synod by complaint, 
and that body, with but two dissenting voices, sustained 
the Presbyterial action, at the same time declaring, how- 
ever, that said action ' ' should not be understood to imply 
that (Mr. Bush's) private sentiments are so heretical 
that he ought to be disclaimed by the Presbyterian con- 
nection." 1 Synod also recommended to the session of 
the church to "use for the present all possible forbear- 
ance ' ' and appointed a committee to visit the church and 
promote its harmony. 2 The tenor of this action of Synod 
induced the session to go, by complaint, to the court 
of last resort. Meanwhile the local excitement was greatly 
promoted by the preaching of Mr. Bush in the court- 
house to a separate congregation and his appointment of a 
stated prayer-meeting at his own house, after the dissolu- 
tion of the pastoral relation. This arrangement continued 
until March, 1829, when Mr. Bush finally withdrew and 
returned East. 3 It does not appear, however, that he ever 
transferred his connection from Wabash to any other 
Presbytery of our church. 

1 " Minutes Synod of Indiana," Vol. I., pp. 75-7. 

2 " Minutes Synod of Indiana," Vol. I., p. 83 . 

3 The Rev. John R. Moreland had been called to succeed him in the pastorate October 
27, 1828. Mr. Moreland had spent the earlier years of his life as a boatman on the Ohio, 
and had enjoyed but small opportunities to obtain an education. His style of preaching 
was somewhat rough, but full of warmth and energy and often productive of the deepest 
impressions. His pastorate was terminated by his death, October 13, 1832. 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 



179 



On the 29th of the following April he writes from 
Cincinnati : 

You perceive by my date that I am still in this city of "bustle, 
brick, and business." I have concluded to make an effort to 
get my books into circulation, or at least into notice, and as they 
are not yet out of press, I shall probably be compelled to remain 
here till the latter part of May. In the mean time, in order to 
keep straight with men and things, and not grow poor myself 
while aiming to make others rich, I have embarked for a few 
weeks in the editorship of the Pandect, which without special 
efforts will not live. 

Although I have not seen Mr. S. I am in hopes to get him to 
take out twenty-five copies of my pamphlet on " Ezekiel's Vision," 
which I will thank you to sell. . . . 

Messrs. Campbell and Owen have been the great topics of talk 
recently. The two disputants have been seen, within a day or 
two, walking arm in arm through Main Street, so that the in- 
ference is, that though not both Harmonists, they are still 
harmonious. 

At the opening of the following year he is again in his 
old haunts at Princeton, and writes : 

When we last met, or rather when we last parted, I had little 
thought that my next communication would be dated Princeton, 
N. J. Yet here I am, the wheel of providence having rolled round 
and landed me where I was six years ago. I came to this place 
about three months since with the design of spending the winter 
in the prosecution of scriptural studies, with the valuable aid of 
the libraries and the learned society here to be enjoyed. You will 
probably think this a strange movement, yet if I as a conscien- 
tious man can justify it to myself, and be fattening in this green 
pasture while so many strayed sheep are wandering upon the 
mountains, you of course will be satisfied. I confess I have little 
hopes of making my steps plausible, and not any great anxiety to 
do it, but as I have always dealt freely and candidly with you, I 
will say that it is purely out of conscience that I am not employed 
at this time as a preacher and pastor. I can no more act in the 
Presbyterian connection than I can in the Roman Catholic. 1 For 
my soul I dare not do it. . . . 

l It will be seen how gradually but certainly his mind had drifted from his earlier be- 
liefs. This was 1830. In 1827 he had said • " I am not clear that my opinions of church 
government are unequivocally hostile to the confession when rightly understood." 



i8o 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



God has graciously. I believe, rewarded the stand I have taken 
against human usurpations with giving me an insight into his 
prophetic oracles that is most enrapturing. O how astonishingly 
have my views of heaven, the judgment, the resurrection, altered 
in two years' time. Yet the world, even the professing world, 
cannot, will not, receive it, and I shall as certainly be accounted a 
dreaming enthusiast as I am a living man. . . It will finally be 
beyond dispute that in the great fundamental principles of my 
construction of the word of God. I am right. Xo thanks to me ; 
for I acknowledge sovereign grace in every step. ... I am 
delivering lectures weekly in the church on the Apocalypse. Dr. 
Alexander attends regularly — has declared himself well satisfied, 
and even more. May possibly publish hereafter. ... I think 
much of Indiana, and should be happy to sit down at your table 
or your fireside, but am only able, sitting at my own. to assure 
you of the continued friendship and fellowship of your brother in 
the gospel. 

In 1 83 1 Mr. Bush was elected to the professorship of 
Hebrew and Oriental Literature in the University of the 
City of New York, and thus was afforded the best advan- 
tages for prosecuting those investigations for which his 
genius and learning qualified him. His first important 
publication was the "Life of Mohammed,"' which ap- 
peared in 1852. It was succeeded the year after by a 
"Treatise on the Millennium.'' and subsequently by 
"Scriptural Illustrations." 1 In 1835 his "Hebrew Gram- 
mar" was issued, a second edition having been called for 
three years later. The publication of his commentaries on 
the Old Testament was commenced in 1840. The Hiero- 
phant, a monthly magazine, began its career in 1844. The 
same year he published his "Anastasis," replying to his 
critics in a kindred work on the 11 Resurrection of Christ." 

It was in 1S45 that Professor Bush openly accepted the 
doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg. after which time he 
devoted himself to their defense. He translated Sweden- 
borg' s diary from the Latin ; published with notes others of 

1 Harper's Family Library, Vol. X. 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 



181 



his writings ; made a "Statement of Reasons for joining 
the New Church," and became editor of the New Church 
Repository. In 1847 he published a work on "Mesmer- 
ism," and in 1857, "Priesthood and Clergy unknown to 
Christianity." Much study impaired his health and he 
died at Rochester, N. Y., September 19, 1859. He was 
at the time pastor of a small Swedenborgian congregation 
there. 

During his long residence in New York City his Indiana 
friends had opportunities to renew the old fellowship, which 
he welcomed as warmly as they. He also for a long time 
maintained a correspondence with some of them. Two of 
his letters of that period so fully reveal the tendencies of 
his mind and the kindliness of his heart, and are withal 
so characteristically expressed that they have more than 
local interest. 

New York, September 1, 1831. 

My Dear Friend: After a long, very long season of silence, I 
propose to become once more vocal, or at least significant, and to 
disturb the dormancy of speech ; a signal, I hope, for your doing 
the same thing. That I have not for nearly a year heard by letter 
the least syllable of news, good or ill, from Indianapolis I attribute 
in some measure to my own neglect ; for I doubt not my friends 
there would have had something to say to me had they known 
where to direct, or been at all certain that their written missives 
would have hit the mark. It has indeed so happened for the most 
part during the last two years and a half that my mode of life has 
been as unsettled as an Arab's, and even up to this hour I must 
say with Paul, "I have no certain dwelling-place." My anchor, 
however, for the present is cast in this haven and I am in hopes 
not to be under the necessity of weighing it again for a long time 
to come. At any rate my friends may be sure that any communi- 
cations addressed to this place will safely reach their destination. 

I have had several opportunities, and such too as most wander- 
ing Levites would consider eligible, to fix myself in a permanent 
location ; but there has almost invariably been some vexatious 
condition about them that grated too harshly on my liberty-loving 
cords, and I of course refused them. I am still a sworn enemy to 



182 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERI ANISM. 



conditions, terms, pledges, vows, promises — to everything in fine 
that fetters the exercise of the most unlimited freedom both in 
opinion and action. And because all sects in religion are pester- 
ing the world with these miserable nuisances, I am an anti- 
sectarian, as warm a one as Richard Rush is an anti-Mason ; and 
then, lastly, because I am an anti of this description, I find favor 
and friendship next to nowhere. This has prevented my settle- 
ment. But my opinions on the subject of religious liberty are 
fixed, and I am ready, if needs be, to become a martyr to them. I 
know they will, they must, finally prevail. They may possibly be 
permitted to starve me and a few others to death before they 
eventually triumph, but their success is certain. The day of 
human creeds is drawing toward its sunset, to be followed by a 
long bright day of pure Bible law, the approach of which all good 
men will hail from the bottom of their hearts. 

But, not to moralize, my present location is extremely pleasant. 
I have a nook monastic in the lower part of Greenwich Street, 
near the Battery, where I am pretty constantly employed ponder- 
ing my polyglots and plying my pen. 1 My brother is an inmate 
under the same roof. I have matters forthcoming of which the 
speaking time is not quite arrived. One advantage of my present 
residence is that it affords me the opportunity of visiting my dear 
child at Morristown. . . . He talks a great deal about his 

i This picture agrees with one presented by the Providence Journal soon after his 
decease, and referring to a period a little subsequent to the above. The Journal says : 
" The professor was twice married, the second time ten or twelve years ago, when his 
circumstances were somewhat improved. For several years he occupied a very small 
room in the fourth or fifth story of a building on the corner of Beekman and Nassau 
Streets, in New York, the walls of which were lined with old books, Hebrew, Greek, 
Latin, and German preponderating. On the floor, too, were piles of huge volumes in 
vellum — Bibles, commentaries, and lexicons in the oriental languages. A pine table, 
two or three wooden chairs, a small stove which retained its place the year round, and a 
cot bed, constituted his furniture. For years neither brush nor broom disturbed the 
accumulated dust of this secluded retreat, and here the professor wrote those transla- 
tions of and learned commentaries on several books of the Old Testament which have 
made his name widely known among theologians of Europe and America. On his 
second marriage this sanctum was abandoned and he removed his books to his dwelling- 
house in Howard Street, where he lived many years. Professor Bush was particularly 
fond of attending book auctions. It gave him a little harmless excitement, brought him 
in contact with literary men, who, like himself, were ever mousing about for rare and 
choice books, and enabled him to procure the books he wanted at low prices. Indeed 
it may be said that nine tenths of his books were purchased at auction ; besides as there 
were few competitors for the literature he sought, he often got Latin, Hebrew, German, 
and various oriental books for a mere song. After using his books a few years, and 
getting from them all he required, he would send them to auction to make way for 
others." 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 183 

mother, and when I showed him a ring that was hers he kissed it 
most affectionately two or three times. 

I wish you would favor me with a letter filled full of all manner 
of news — personal, domestical, political, theological, statistical, 
topographical, biographical, and so on. I wish to know how your 
town prospers and promises and what important changes have 
taken place latterly among the inhabitants, such of them as I 
know. 

To the same : 

New York, June 18, 1836. 

The return of Mr. Sullivan, who has visited me several times, 
offers an opportunity too favorable to be lost of at least sending 
a greeting of friendship. It is pleasant thus just to hail each 
other, while sailing in our respective courses on the ocean of 
time, and gratefully hear the "All's well" returned from either 
party. May we ever be able to give this response mutually 
while voyaging onward to our final haven, and then have it ex- 
changed for the " Well done " of our Lord and master. 

. . . I am still mainly employed in the line of book-making, 
of which I send you a little specimen. My works have never as 
yet been very popular or profitable, but on the whole are perhaps 
looking up. I am now totis in illis in preparing a set of notes on 
the Old Testament, precisely on the plan of Barnes on the New. 
The first volume will probably be published next fall. I shall 
commence with Joshua and publish on the Pentateuch afterward. 

As you may possibly have heard, I am now connected as 
literary editor with the American Bible Society. My duties are 
to superintend the text of all our editions, and to correspond 
with foreign translators. The work is pleasant and at present 
easy, but likely to become laborious by and by. 

. . . I am yet single, but not despairing of duplication. 
But, however enumerated, I beg you to set me down as your 
cordial and abiding friend and brother in Christ. 

P. S. — My old friend, so to speak, Dr. C. is now in this region 
and visits me every once in a while, probably both glad of an 
opportunity to exercise toward each other certain Christian 
graces that would no doubt have lain dormant had we been 
otherwise affected toward each other in ancient times. 

The personal allusion in the last sentence discloses a 
rare gentleness and goodness — qualities which character- 



184 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIAN1SM. 

ized the man throughout his career. From the brief 
account of it one may readily perceive that the long and 
warm discussion of vital questions at Indianapolis had on 
both sides been conducted with an uncommon degree of 
patience and charity. Both parties were determined and 
conscientious. The young pastor was born to seek out 
new ways ; his session was predestined to love remorse- 
lessly the old paths. They could not be harmonized. It 
is not often that such a conflict is closed with so successful 
a defense of the public interests and so small and so tran- 
sient an injury to private character and personal friend- 
ship. Those who knew Professor Bush in the early days 
of battle will cordially unite in bearing testimony to ' 1 the 
extent and variety of his learning, his rare courage, the 
unpretending simplicity and the kindness of his manners, 
his fervent and trustful piety." 1 In his odd story of 
Indiana life Professor Hall introduces Mr. Bush as "Bishop 
Shrub," and describes with the warmth of friendship 
these same characteristics. 2 " I never saw him but once, 
within my recollection," writes another whose parents 
knew and loved him well ; 1 ' that was in New York City, 
when he made a long and affectionate call upon my father. 
He was a delightful talker, and, I suppose, in all his feel- 
ings, and in his treatment of others, a gentle, Christ-like 
man." 

A volume of "Memoirs and Reminiscences of the late 
Professor George Bush" was published in Boston the 
year after his decease. 

Baynard Rush Hall was the son of Dr. John Hall, an 
eminent surgeon 3 in Philadelphia. Dr. Hall was a man of 
wealth. He died, however, when the son was but four 
years of age, and the property, except a small portion 

1 Griswold's " Prose Writers of America," p. 356. 

2 " The New Purchase," p. 224. 

3 The father's profession and residence readily explain the son's middle name. 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 



185 



•of it, never came into the possession of the rightful heir. 1 
The latter was born in Philadelphia, in 1798, and com- 
menced his collegiate studies at the College of New Jersey, 
completing them, however, at Union College, New York, 
from which institution he graduated with honor in the 
class of 1820. His friends wished him to study law, but 
his own inclination was for the ministry and he entered the 
seminary at Princeton in the autumn of the same year. On 
leaving the seminary, having received licensure from the 
Presbytery of Philadelphia, 2 he set out for the West. 

He had married several years before, at the age of 
twenty-two, a lady whom he had formerly known in Phila- 
delphia and whose family had removed to Danville, Ky. 3 
From his own chatty pen, through a thin veil of fiction, we 
are led to the substantial truth as to his settlement in 
Indiana. 

It was mere accident that turned our folks to their location 
in the New Purchase. The Seymours at the close of the last war 
with Great Britain resided in Philadelphia. Like others they 
risked their capital during the war in manufactories ; and like 
others, when peace was proclaimed the Seymours were ruined. 
John Seymour, familiarly known among us as Uncle John, on 
his arrival from the South, where, during a residence of many 
years, he had acquired a handsome fortune, found his sisters, Mrs. 
Glenville and Mrs. Littleton, in great distress, their husbands 
being recently dead ; and having not long before his return buried 
his wife, who had, however, borne him no children, he im- 
mediately took under his protection the two widowed ladies, 
his sisters, together with the four children of Mrs. Glenville. 
Fearing his means were not sufficient to sustain the burden 
providentially cast upon him, at least in the way that was 
desirable, he resolved to remove to Kentucky. Accordingly 
the new-organized family all removed to the West, with the 
exception of Miss Eliza Glenville, who was left to complete 
her education with the excellent and justly celebrated Mr. Jandon. 

1 Index volume of the Princeton Review. 

2 Dickey's " Brief History," p. 16. 

3 Reed's " Christian Traveller," p. in. 



186 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



With this amiable and interesting creature, the young lady, Mr. 
Carlton, who somehow or other always had a taste for sweet and 
beautiful faces, became acquainted . . . and was married. It 
had been part of the arrangement that Mr. and Mrs. Carlton 
should join the family in Kentucky, and that we should establish 
a boarding-school for young ladies ; but now came a letter from 
John Glenville, that Uncle John, unfortunate, not in selling a very 
valuable property at a fair price, but in receiving that price in 
worthless notes of Kentucky banks, which, like most banks, 
every twenty or thirty years had failed, had with his remaining 
funds, as his only resort, bought a tract of government lands in 
the New Purchase ; and that, if I could join him, with a few 
hundred dollars, in a little tanning, store-keeping, and honest 
speculation, we might gain, if not riches, at least independence. 
He added that maybe something could be done in the school 
line. 1 

Thus allured to "Glenville," a little settlement not far 
from the present Gosport, Mr. Hall became, early in 1825, 
the principal of the State Seminary, located in 1820 upon 
the state lands adjoining the town of Bloomington, which 
were now for the first time opened. He says : 

Nearly south of Glenville was the grand town — our Woodville. 2 
And nearly west, some eight or nine miles and a piece, was Spice- 
burg, 3 at least in dry times, for the town being on the bottom of 
Shining River was, in hard rains, commonly under water, so that 
a conscientious man dared not then to affirm, without a proviso, 
where Spiceburg was precisely. Northeast from us, some fifty 
long lonesome miles, was the capital of the state, Timberopolis, 4 
the seat of the legislature and of mortality. 5 South of Wood- 
ville and in the very edge of the forest were at this time two un- 
finished brick buildings, destined for the use of the future univer- 
sity. As we passed to-day in our vehicle the smaller house was 
crammed with somebody's hay and flax, while the larger was 

1 Hall's " New Purchase," pp. 84-6. 

2 Bloomington. 

3 Spencer. 

4 Indianapolis. 

5 " New Purchase," p. 83. It is considerately added concerning "Timberopolis" 
that " death in later times there domineered less." 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 



I8 7 



pouring forth a flock of sheep — a very curious form in which to 
issue college parchments. 1 

In connection with the care of the school at Bloomington 
Mr. Hall at once undertook the labors of the pulpit. 
Having been received by Salem Presbytery, in March, 
1825, he was ordained and installed over the Bloomington 
society the month following. 2 Though this relation was 
dissolved one year later he continued to preach to the con- 
gregation until early in 1830. Meanwhile the young 
State Seminary had got into stormy seas, the rivalries of 
political parties and ecclesiastical sects seriously threaten- 
ing its existence. In the effort to establish it upon a colle- 
giate basis it was thought necessary to distribute the 
professorships among the combatants, and Mr. Hall 
retired. He had certainly not been "the very first man 
since the creation of the world that read Greek in the New 
Purchase," 3 though he had no doubt been one of the best 
classical scholars there. His experience as a teacher had 
also prepared him for the profession which he was to prose- 
cute during nearly all of his later life. 

Leaving Indiana in 1831, he became pastor of the 
church in Bedford, Pa., the following year, where he 
remained, at the same time conducting a school, until 

1 " New Purchase," p. 68. This, and other "New Purchase" descriptions, intended 
as suggestions of the small and rude beginnings of that day, must be taken, so far as the 
details are concerned, " with a grain of salt." 

2 In this year there were six ordinations in the Presbyterian Church in Indiana. 
" Four of these I attended and took a part in them," says the Rev. Isaac Reed. 
("Christian Traveller," p. 146.) " At the first, which was the installation of the Rev. 
George Bush at Indianapolis as moderator, I gave out the appointments to the others, 
and took the address to the congregation on myself. At the second, which was this at 
Bloomington, I preached the sermon. At the next, the ordination of the Rev. Alexan- 
der Williamson as evangelist, I was not present. At the fourth, the settlement of the 
Rev. Tilly H. Brown over the Bethlehem church, I preached the sermon. At the fifth, 
the ordination of Rev. Stephen Bliss, which took place at Vincennes, I gave the charge 
to the evangelist." 

8 See " New Purchase," p. 153. He could justly claim the distinction of bringing the 
first piano to Bloomington. 



1 88 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



1838. 1 He then became successively the principal of 
academies at Bordentown and Trenton, N. J. (at the latter 
place also having charge of the recently organized Second 
Church 2 ), and at Poughkeepsie and Newburgh, N. Y. , 
and in 1852 removed to Brooklyn and became principal of 
the Park Institute. 3 The last few years of his life he spent 
in preaching to the poor, a portion of the time under the 
direction of the Reformed (Dutch) Church. He died 
January 23, 1863, and was laid to rest in the cemetery of 
the Evergreens, a beautiful spot two or three miles east of 
Brooklyn, and overlooking the bay. He left a widow and 
two children in destitute circumstances, but three years 
after the last member of his family followed him. None of 
his near relatives survive. 

In 1842 the degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by 
the College of New Jersey, and in 1848 the degree of D.D. 
by Rutgers College. His first publication was a ' ' New and 
Compendious Latin Grammar." In 1842 an article from 
his pen on "Theories of Education" appeared in the 
Princeton Review. Twelve years after leaving Indiana he 
published " The New Purchase, or Life in the Far West " 
and " Something for Everybody." The following year, 
in 1847, "Teaching, a Science; the Teacher an Artist," 
and "Frank Freeman's Barber Shop" appeared. His 
cliosophic address at Princeton in 1852 was printed. 4 His 
writings were not unsuccessful. "The New Purchase," a 
story founded on his experience in Indiana, reached a 
third revised edition in 1855, its two volumes in one. The 
book has many readers still, especially in the region where 
its amusing scenes are laid. 5 Extracts from it already 

1 Gillett's " History of the Presbyterian Church," Vol. I., p. 494. 

2 See Dr. John Hall's " History of the First Church in Trenton," p. 118. 

3 See index volume of the Princeton Review. 

4 Dr. John Hall's " History of the First Church in Trenton," p. 118. 

5 An intelligent reader will easily detect some of the localities and characters partially 
obscured by their 710ms de plume. Perhaps, however, a glossary will be welcomed. The 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 



189 



quoted will sufficiently indicate its style. Too diffuse and 
familiar, it still has elements of strength. The narrative is 
often racy, and sometimes admirably preserves the ver- 
nacular of the region and the time. There was a degree 
of offensive personality in the first edition which did not 
multiply the author's friends among those at all sensitive 
to sarcasm. This feature of the book was removed from 
the revised issue and we may all thank the lively pen, 
never dipped in gall, for its familiar trifling with our 
household gods. 

During his residence in Brooklyn Dr. Hall occasionally 
ventured into the lecture field, and with success. In 
these efforts, as in his writings, wit sometimes had too 
sharp an edge. The "hits were admirable," but cut too 
deep. "In his long struggle with poverty, finding him- 
self distanced in the race of life by many who were greatly 
his inferiors, both in mental power and intellectual attain- 
ments, it is no wonder that he sometimes gave way to 
melancholy and permitted a bitter tone." 1 He had lost 
his father in early childhood, and thus was deprived of a 
friendship admirably suited to help and educate a boy. 
His considerable patrimony he had not been permitted to 
receive and enjoy. By nature well endowed and in the 
best schools thoroughly trained, his refined faculties found 
his circumstances discordant. The high but wearisome 
task of the schoolmaster, even when joined to ministerial 
work, failed to yield a sufficient support, and he was 

Carlton and the Rev. Mr. Clarence, of the book, are the author ; Rev. James Hilsbury is 
Rev. Isaac Reed ; Dr. Bloduplex, Dr.Wiley ; Rev. Mr. Shrub, Rev. George Bush ; Wood- 
ville, Bloomington ; Spiceburg, Spencer ; Sugartown, Crawfordsville ; Sproutsburg, 
La Fayette; Timberopolis, Indianapolis; Big Shiney, White River; Slippery River, 
Eel River. Mrs. Glenville, Chap. XXXII., is the mother of Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Isaac 
Reed, and " John Glenville " ; Dr. Sylvan is Dr. Maxwell; and the leader of the party 
described in Chap. XLIV. is Williamson Dunn, father of the Hon. McKee Dunn. 
Harwood is Harvey, at his death, a few years since, editor of the Louisville Democrat. 
Lawyer Cutswell afterward became Governor Whitcomb. 

1 MSS. of the Rev. J. Edson Rockwell, D.D., who kindly communicated the facts 
of Dr. Hall's later life. 



190 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



forced to frequent removals. It was a long struggle for 
bread, most honorably maintained by one who doubtless 
reflected that he had been wronged, and that his wife and 
his children were suffering needlessly. We must grate- 
fully remember the man who in his earliest enthusiasm so 
gaily bore for us the heat of the day, and in the ' ' Cottage 
of Peace ' ' with ' 1 Bishop Hilsbury, ' ' and at 1 ' Timberop- 
olis ' ' with the ' ' Rev. Mr. Shrub, ' ' showed qualities so 
genial, generous, and strong. 

By one who saw him at Bloomington in the winter of 
1830— 1 1 he is remembered as " a short, heavily-built man, 
with long, light hair." The lithograph prefixed to his 
principal book, and representing him as he was twenty 
years later, shows a noble, finely-chiseled face, marked 
deeply with lines of sorrow. In the portrait the story of 
his life is accurately told. 

Alexander Williamson was born in Cumberland 
County, Pa., September 17, 1797. He graduated from 
Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, in 1818. Having entered 
Washington College early in 181 6, he was there converted 
under the ministry of Dr. M. Brown, but afterward became 
a student at Jefferson. He studied theology at Princeton 
and graduated in the class of 1822. Licensed by the 
Presbytery of Carlisle, on account of delicate health he 
accepted a missionary appointment for two years in Missis- 
sippi. Thence he came to Indiana, settling at Corydon, 
and after eight or nine years removing to Delphi, Carroll 
County, and to Monticello, White County. In these fields 
he remained for ten years, when, his health and his mind 
becoming impaired, he removed to Corydon, about two 
years before his death, which occurred July 14, 1849. 
For some years he was able to do but little in the ministry, 
but, though he took gloomy views of himself, he was, 

1 The Rev. Dr. Henry Little. 



HELP FROM PRINCETON. 



IQI 



says Dr. C. C. Beatty, his classmate at Princeton, " emi- 
nently a man of God." 

At the meeting of Synod, Indianapolis, September, 
1849, formal record was made of his fidelity. "No 
ordinary cause, ' ' says the memorial, ' ' would prevent him 
from fulfilling his appointments, however distant, and it is 
believed that the exposure he thus endured brought on 
the disease which disabled him and finally terminated his 
life. . . . He was eminently a man of prayer. His delight 
was in the law of the Lord." 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Two Fellow-Travelers. 
1824. 

Of the Princeton quintet referred to in the previous 
chapter, Young and Johnston made the journey westward 
in company. The latter lived to a good old age, enduring 
half a century of most honorable toil. His friend, smitten 
by the poisonous fogs of the Wabash, scarcely survived to 
complete the brief term of his first commission. 

John Young spent the early years of his life in Spring- 
field, Otsego County, N. Y. , graduated from Union College 
in 1 82 1, and studied divinity at Princeton. He came 
West in 1824, reaching Madison, Ind., December 9. His 
commission, from the Assembly's Committee of Missions, 
was for six months. Remaining in Madison eight weeks, 
he supplied the vacant pulpit there. He was present at 
the ordination of Mr. Bush at Indianapolis, March 5, 1825. 1 
After a few weeks' labor along the White River in the 
vicinity of Indianapolis he went to the Wabash. He was 
at the meeting of Presbytery in April at Washington. 
Crossing into Illinois, he gave most of his time until July 
15 to the congregation of Paris, Edgar County, and New 
Hope, partly in Vigo County, Ind., and partly in Clark 
County, 111. The term for which he had been commis- 
sioned had already expired and he had turned toward 
home. Arriving at the house of the Rev. S. T. Scott, 
near Vincennes, he delayed his journey eastward in order 

l See " A Funeral Sermon, occasioned by the early death of Mr. John Young . . . 
by Isaac Reed, A. M., Indianapolis, printed by Douglass and Maguire." Cf. "Christian 
Traveller," pp. 149, 150, 209, 210. 

192 



TWO FELLOW-TRAVELERS. 



193 



to attend the third anniversary of the Indiana Missionary- 
Society. On the 2d of August he preached at Princeton 
what proved to be his last sermon. He was at that time 
suffering from illness. Returning on the 3d to Vincennes, 
symptoms of fever appeared, but on the two following 
days he was able to attend the meetings of the Presbytery 
and the Missionary Society. On the latter occasion he ad- 
dressed the assembly with singular solemnity. But he soon 
withdrew to the house of a good physician of the town> 
and lying down, sank steadily until near midnight, August 
15, when he died. He had expected soon to be in the 
home of his childhood again, but another welcome was 
prepared for him. His little property he bequeathed to 
the Domestic Missionary Society of New York, the Ameri- 
can Bible Society, and the Tract Society. 1 

Mr. Young was small in stature, of a well-formed person 
and fine countenance. His manners were grave. He 
was ' ' a man of ardent piety and earnest zeal. " 2 In the 
churches of Paris and New Hope he was greatly loved. 3 
"He did much in little time." His early death caused 
"great lamentation," and especially grieved the little 
company of Princeton fellow-students 4 who had chosen the 
same field of labor. Baynard R. Hall 5 says : 

We visited the grave of a young man who, unavoidably exposed 
to a fatal illness in discharging his missionary duties, had died at 
Vincennes in early manhood and far away from his home. Deep 
solemnity was in the little company of his classmates as they stood 
gazing where rested the remains of the youthful hero. Dear 
young man, his warfare was soon ended, and there he lay among 
the silent ones in the scented meadow-land of the far West. 

A faded letter of Mr. Young's, dated "Washington, 

1 Letter of the Rev. Samuel T. Scott in Reed's " Funeral Discourse," p. 12. 

2 Johnston's " Forty Years in Indiana," p. 28. 

3 See Indiana Journal of September 6, 1825. 

4 Bush, Hall, Williamson, Johnston. 

5 " New Purchase," p. 280. 



194 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

April 9, 1825," contains the following references to his 
work in Indiana : 

You will perhaps have some curiosity to know where I have 
been and what doing since I saw you. (1) I have been in 
Indiana, in the mud, in log cabins, in the woods. (2) After you 
left me at Indianapolis I took a tour up White River and preached 
one Sabbath at a Mr. Mallory's. Visited the falls of Fall Creek. 1 
Preached one sermon in the prison of that place. I spent some 
time conversing with those poor unhappy murderers. ? Found 
them free to converse. The two old men are from all accounts 
bad. The young man appears truly penitent. He frankly con- 
fesses the whole transaction. . . . After visiting these unhappy 
wretches I returned to Indianapolis ; spent one Sabbath there ; 
then left for Illinois. From Indianapolis to the Wabash I had a 
rather gloomy, unpleasant time. The greater part of the way is 
woods. 

James Harvey Johnston was of goodly parentage. 
His grandfather, the Rev. William Johnston, was born in 
Dublin, Ireland, in 17 13. He had received a thorough 
education at Edinburgh University, spending four years in 
the literary and three in the theological department. 3 He 
came to this country when a young man and married Miss 
Cummins, an English lady of education and rare accom- 
plishments. She was annually in receipt of ^150 from 
England, which after the Revolution, however, was not 
transmitted. "Dominie" Johnston, having previously 
resided in the vicinity of Albany and Schenectady and at 
Curry's Bush 4 and Warren's Bush, settled in Sidney 
Plains, N. Y., arriving there May 10, 1772. He was the 
pioneer of that town. He came on foot, with his son 
Witter, subsequently known as Colonel Johnston, driving 
a cow from the neighborhood of Cherry Valley. The son 
remained during the winter, his father returning in the 

l Now Pendleton. 

a Cf. Oliver H. Smith's " Indiana Trials," pp. 51-3. 

3 See " The Sidney Centennial Jubilee," p. 28. 

4 Now Florida, Montgomery County, N. Y. 



TWO FELLOW-TRAVELERS. 



195 



autumn to Curry's Bush for the remainder of the family, 
who reached Sidney Plains the following June. A tract of 
land consisting of 520 acres was secured, and upon this 
homestead the Johnstons enjoyed comparative quiet until 
November 11, 1778, when occurred the fatal Cherry 
Valley massacre under Captain Walter Butler and the 
Mohawk Indian, Brandt. The family, warned by 
"Hughy," the younger son, escaped only to see their 
house in flames. They fled to the vicinity of their former 
residence, where they remained until after the war. The 
" Dominie," who died in 1783, never returned to his 
estate. 

Colonel Witter, father of the subject of this sketch, con- 
tinued in the service of the colonies until peace was 
secured, when he returned to Sidney Plains and success- 
fully sought from the legislature a title to the homestead, 
the former title having been found worthless and the whole 
property, really held by a loyalist, having been confiscated. 
Colonel Johnston was a man of great force of character, 
though not possessed of a robust frame or vigorous consti- 
tution. While an officer in the army of the Revolution 
his pay was the chief support of the family. In later life, 
when in prosperous circumstances, he was accustomed to 
lead in all public enterprises. His firmness and self- 
reliance were characteristic. He died in October, 1839, 
at the age of eighty-six. 

James Harvey Johnston was born at Sidney Plains, 
October 14, 1798. When about fourteen years of age 
he heard his pastor preach on "the unpardonable sin," 
and such was the impression the sermon made upon 
him that he could not study and in the schoolroom 
was continually weeping. The teacher, a woman, sent 
him home, advising him to make his case known to his 
mother. It is probable that then, under his mother's 
sympathy and instruction, the life of faith began. 



196 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



It was the wish of his mother that he should have 
an education, and his studies were now directed to prepare 
him for a collegiate course. Before he had reached the 
age of seventeen he taught school at Unadilla to obtain 
means to prosecute his studies, and in 18 16 he entered the 
freshman class at Hamilton College. Albert Barnes was 
his classmate, and remained through life a warm friend. 1 
Mr. Johnston graduated in 1820, with the first honors 
of his class. Having spent a year in teaching at Utica he 
went to Princeton Seminary, and there completed the 
course in divinity. He was licensed to preach at the open- 
ing of the last year at the seminary, and concerning that 
event the following entry in his diary appears, under the 
date October 24, 1823 : 

I last week attended the Columbia Presbyter}', to which I had 
previously attached myself, and having sustained the examina- 
tions, and passed through the trials required, was only licensed to 
preach the gospel. My licensure took place on the 14th day of 
this month, my birthday, I having on that day completed my 25th 
year. In this entering upon the high and holy work of the gospel 
ministry I trust my mind has been in some measure impressed 
with a sense of its importance. . . . May I never be guilty of 
doing the work of the Lord deceitfully. May I never neglect 
or abandon it. As I hope that this work has not been undertaken 
from mere worldly motives, for the purpose of obtaining a tempo- 
ral support, I pray God that in prosecuting it my aim and my 
conduct may never become mercenary. Though the laborer 
is worthy of his hire this direction is given to govern those 
to whom the gospel is preached, rather than to be insisted on by 
preachers themselves. My motto should be, " A necessity is laid 
upon me ; yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel wherever 
providence may call me." 

The diary continues : 

Princeton, July 1, 1824. The time allotted to my theological 

1 Upon the death of Mr. Barnes Mr. Johnston preached, February 26, 1871, in the 
Centre Church, Crawfordsville, Ind., a memorial discourse, containing extracts from a 
long correspondence. It forms a beautiful and just tribute to his distinguished friend. 
The sermon was published, Philadelphia, 1874. 



TWO FELLOW-TRAVELERS. 



197 



course is rapidly drawing to a close. I have now entered upon 
the last session at this seminary. The last two months have been 
spent on a missionary tour. My field of labor was in Montgomery 
and Albany Counties in New York. I preached almost daily and 
was constantly employed in visiting from house to house. As op- 
portunities presented did all in my power to promote Sabbath- 
schools. My traveling, during the tour, which would average 
from ten to fifteen miles per day, I performed on foot. This tour 
was to me a very interesting one. Took much satisfaction in dis- 
charging the duties incumbent upon me. Saw much to convince 
me of the need of missionary labor in the region which I visited. 
The means enjoyed by the people limited ; ignorance great ; errors 
abounding ; vices prevailing. Was treated with much kindness 
and with much respect for my work's sake. A pleasing attention 
was generally manifested to the preaching of the Word. One or 
two hopeful conversions under my preaching. Was solicited to 
remain in two different places. In either place my station would 
have been obscure and my sphere limited, but I felt willing to 
remain if it appeared to be God's will. 

Sidney Plains, October 28. God has mercifully restored me 
once more to my father's family, but it is in circumstances differ- 
ent from any in which I formerly visited home. I am this day to 
bid adieu to my friends and direct my course to the far distant 
West. Previous to leaving Princeton I thought it my duty, after 
much prayerful deliberation, to take a mission for the state of 
Indiana. An engagement to spend a year in that state as a mis- 
sionary was entered into, with the Domestic Missionary Society of 
New York, before I reached home. Some intimation of such an 
intention had some weeks before been given to my friends at 
home in a letter, but no explicit avowal had been made till after 
my commission had been obtained. 

On arriving at home and declaring my purpose my father and 
other friends opposed me. They had expected me to settle nearer 
them. They cannot even now be convinced that duty requires 
me to move so far. Their opposition renders the trial of parting 
still more severe, but, happy as I should be to comply with their 
wishes could I consistently do it, my views of duty remain un- 
changed. The wants of the church and the prospects of useful- 
ness in the region assigned me by my commission I believe to 
be greater than in the vicinity of this place, or anywhere in my 
native state. It appears clear to me, notwithstanding the argu- 
ments which my friends have used and the wishes they have 



I98 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



expressed, that I ought to go to the field which I have engaged to 
visit. This is the day appointed for my departure. The separa- 
tion about to take place, the, distance to which I am destined 
to go, the responsibility of the undertaking, my ignorance of the 
character of the people whom I may visit, and of the circum- 
stances in which I shall be placed, the privations and hardships 
which I shall experience, and the dangers to which I shall be 
exposed, all these combine to fill my mind with anxious and pain- 
ful feelings. But my trust is in the Lord ; in his strength I will go 
forward. 

Madison, Indiana, December 9, 1824. Agreeably to my expec- 
tation, on the 28th of October I left home and commenced my 
journey on horseback to this state. Mr. John Young, another 
missionary for Indiana, had agreed with me before leaving Prince- 
ton to bear me company on the journey. We were to meet 
at Geneva. The first Sabbath after leaving home I spent at 
Hamilton College ; the second at Geneva. At that place I found 
that Mr. Young had waited for me for some days, but had left for 
Canandaigua. On Monday the 8th of November I proceeded to 
the latter place, hoping to overtake him, but he had left about 
three hours before my arrival there. I pursued my journey alone 
to Buffalo, where I had the pleasure of overtaking Mr. Young. In 
his company I proceeded to Chautauqua County before the next 
Sabbath. In that county we both spent the Sabbath. The follow- 
ing Sabbath was spent near Cleveland in Ohio, the Sabbath 
succeeding near Worthington in the same state, and the next 
Sabbath in Harrison and vicinity, on the borders of Indiana. This 
day we have reached Madison. 

I feel bound to render humble thanks to God for his goodness 
in rendering my journey so pleasant and prosperous. He has 
preserved me from sickness and from death, has permitted no 
accident or harm to befall me. We have met with a very kind 
and apparently cordial reception from the people of this place. I 
am greatly pleased with the appearance of the town and of 
the people. The recent affliction the church has experienced in 
the loss of their minister, the Rev. Joseph Trimble, renders their 
case still more interesting. 

Thus began what was to be the longest period of 
continuous service ever accomplished by a Presbyterian 
minister in Indiana — eighteen years at Madison and nearly 
a half-century of active labor in the state. 



TWO FELLOW-TRAVELERS. 



199 



The work was initiated by an extensive tour of explora- 
tion, Mr. Young having undertaken for a time the supply 
of the Madison pulpit. Mr. Johnston was engaged for 
nearly three months upon this missionary journey. He 
makes the following reference to it in his journal : 

Madison, March 70, 1825. The intervening time has been spent 
in itinerating through the southeastern section of the state. I have 
traveled about five hundred miles and preached about fifty times. 
Have enjoyed good health, been prospered in my journey, been 
kindly received, and as well accommodated as the circumstances 
of new settlements would permit. Have received as a compensa- 
tion for my services since leaving here five dollars and twenty 
cents, and have expended in traveling the same sum. 1 

1A loose leaf of the journal contains the following interesting record: "Arrived 
within ye bounds of Indiana on ye 7th of December, 1824. Arrived at Madison on ye 
•9th. Preached at Madison on ye eve of ye 10th from Heb. ii.: 3. Preached on ye 
Sabbath at Sam'l Ryker's from Rev. iii.: 20. On Thursday eve., 10th, at Madison 
from Luke xv.: 11-24. On Sabbath, 19th, at Madison, from 1 Peter i.:8, Eccl. xii.: 1, 
and Matt, v.: 6. On Wednesday eve., 22d, at Vernon, from Eccl. xii.: 1. Thursday eve., 
23d, at Mr. Clapp's, Heb. ii.: 3. Friday eve., 24th, at Columbus, Matt, v.: 6. Sab. morn., 
26th, at Mr. Young's, Rev. iii.: 20; eve., at Mr. King's, Franklin, Luke xv.: n-24. Wed. 
eve., 29th, at Indianapolis, Eccl. xii.: 1. Tues. eve., Jan. 4, at Mr. Smock's, Matt, v.: 6. 
Wed. eve., 5th, at Mr. Morgan's, on Sugar Creek, Rev. iii.: 20. Thur. eve., at Shelby- 
ville, Heb. ii.: 3. Sat. eve., 8th, at Greensburgh, Rev. iii.: 20. Sab., 9th, Rom. vi.: 23, 
Luke xv.: 11-24. Mon. eve., 10th, at Mrs. Hamilton's, Isa. lv.: 6. Tues. eve., at Wm. 
Throp's, Heb. ii.: 3. Thurs. eve., 13th, at Mr. Donnell's, Matt, xxv.: 1-13. Frid. eve., 
14th, at Mr. Antrobus', 'The rich man and Lazarus.' Sab. morn., 15th, at Cyrus 
Hamilton's, 1 Peter i.: 8 ; eve., at Mr. Collins', 2 Peter iii.: 18. Thur., 12 o'clock, at 
Rushville, Heb. ii.: 3 ; eve., Luke xv.: n-24. Sab. eve., Jan. 23, 1 Peter i.: 8. Mon. 
eve., 24th, at Mr. Brownlee's, Matt, xxv.: 1-13. Tues. eve., 25th, at Connersville, Rev. 
iii.: 20. Wed., 12 o'clock, at Mr. Bell's, Matt, v.: 6. Wed. eve., at Dunlapsville, Heb. 

ii. : 3. Thur. eve., 27th, at Bath, Matt, xxv.: 1-13. Frid. eve., 28th, at Mr. Sering's, Isa. 
lv.: 6. Sat. eve., 29th, at Mr. Murphy's, Amos iv.: 12. Sab. morn., 30th, Bath, Eccl. 
xii.: 1; eve., at Mr. Simonson's, Cedar Grove, Luke xv.: n-24. Monday, 31st, at Mr. 
Gouday's, 2 Peter iii.: 18. Wed., Feb. 2d, 12 o'clock, at Esq. Cox's, Amos iv.: 12. 
Thur., 3d, at 12 o'clock, at Mr. Bell's, Rev. iii.: 20. Sat. eve., 5th, at Rushville, Rev. 

iii. : 20. Sab., 12 o'clock, Eccl. xii.: 1. Sab. eve., Matt, xxv.: 1-13. Wed. eve., 9th, at 
Cole's settlement, 1 Peter i.: 8. Sab. eve., 13th, at Indpls, 1 Peter i.: 8. Tues., 12 
o'clock, 15th, at Franklin, Matt, xxv.: 1-13. Wed., 16th, 12 o'clock, at Edinburgh, 
Heb. ii.: 3. Sab. morn., 20th, at Bloomington, 1 Peter i.: 8. Thurs. eve., 24th, at Mr. 
Steele's, Rev. iii.:2o. Sab. morn., 27th, at Mr. Reed's place of worship, Heb. ii.: 3. 
Mon. eve., 28th, at Spenser, Amosiv.: 12. Sab. eve., Mar. 6th, at Mr. Smock's, ' Ye 
Rich Man and Lazarus.' Mon. eve., Mar. 7th, at Franklin, Matt, v.: 6. Tues. eve., 
at Columbus, Rev. iii.: 20. Wed. eve., 9th, at Vernon, 1 Peter i.: 8. Preached from 
the time that I left Madison to ye time that I returned fifty times. Traveled about 500 
tmiles in all." 



200 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Monday, October 3d. After having spent a number of months- 
in a very pleasant manner, preaching to this people, the church 
and congregation have this day made out a unanimous call for me 
to become their pastor. I know no place where I would more 
willingly take up my permanent abode and no people to whom I 
would more cheerfully become united in the endearing relation of 
pastor. 

Thursday, October 20th. This has been to me a most solemn 
and interesting day. Salem Presbytery convened here yesterday, 
and having received me under their care, attended to the requisite 
examinations and trials, and to-day they have installed me as 
pastor of this church. 1 Rev. John Finley Crowe preached the 
sermon ; Rev. John M. Dickey presided and gave the charges to 
myself and to the congregation and also offered the consecrating 
prayer ; Rev. Alexander Williamson and Rev. Tilly H. Brown 
were also present and united in the imposition of hands. 

April 17, 1826. I am this day to set off on a journey to the East 
for the purpose of visiting my friends and attending the meeting of 
the General Assembly at Philadelphia. 

July 28. After a long absence from my people I have this day 
been permitted to return. I have visited my father's family and. 
other relatives and friends, and attended as I expected the 
General Assembly. 2 Found one of my sisters on a bed of lan- 
guishing and death. Before the close of my visit I witnessed her 
decease. It is my earnest prayer that I may be as well prepared 
for death as she appeared to be. My visit, though on many 
accounts interesting, has not afforded me so much enjoyment as I 
anticipated. M\ T mind dwelt much upon the dear people of my 
charge. The interest I feel in their spiritual welfare I found to be 
greater when separated from them than I was aware of when with, 
them. Madison appears to me the dearest place on earth. 

The missionary, now fully established upon his field, 
found opportunities for useful labor rapidly multiplying. 
The Indiana Missionary Society, at first auxiliary to the 
Assembly's Committee of Missions, but at the fourth 
annual meeting, August 4, 1S26, made tributary to the 
American Home Missionary Society, on Mr. Johnston's 

1 He was at the same time ordained. — " Minutes Salem Presbytery," Yol. I., p. 36. 

2 The petition from Salem Presbytery for a division into three Presbyteries he success- 
fully presented to the Assembly. — " Minutes Salem Presbytery," Yol. I., pp. 33, 34. 



TWO FELLOW-TRAVELERS. 



20I 



arrival in the state, placed him upon the executive commit- 
tee. He also became the society's secretary. Mission- 
aries from the East were instructed to report to him, and 
were by him apprised of the fields selected for them. 1 
He was thus required to assume the burden of an extensive 
correspondence and to acquaint himself by frequent ex- 
plorations with the whole territory. Large packages of 
letters received from students in the seminaries, and from 
missionaries recently arrived, together with official com- 
munications from every quarter, show the high esteem in 
which he was held and the conscientious assiduity of his 
service. 

The more we study the spirit and purposes of the men 
who founded our church in Indiana the more we are com- 
pelled to admire their zeal, their faith in God, and the 
wisdom and breadth of their plans for God's kingdom. 
But there is a painful sense of the extreme poverty of the 
means at their command. The effort to systematize 
missionary operations in the state was attended with 
severe sacrifices on the part of all our oldest and most 
useful men. But besides the Missionary Society they 
undertook the establishment of state benevolent societies 
in behalf of the Bible, the tract cause, temperance, etc. 
They fostered education and wrought unitedly for the 
Hanover Academy. A theological department was founded 
and professors were secured. In all these far-reaching 
plans Mr. Johnston was prominent. When, in addition, 
the publishing of a religious newspaper as the organ of 
the Indiana Missionary Society was contemplated, he, in 
consideration both of his qualifications for the trust and of 
his convenient location, was by all approved for the 
editorial chair. To this latter undertaking he makes the 
following reference in his diary : 

i The missionaries of the A. H. M. S. upon this field were "located " by the Indiana 
^society. See Johnston's " Forty Years in Indiana," p. 9. 



202 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



June 2j, 1828. Have this day commenced the publication of a. 
religious periodical. What will be the result of this undertaking 
and how long it will be prosecuted is very uncertain. I have 
engaged with no very sanguine hopes of success. Have been in- 
fluenced by the advice of a number of my brethren. Through 
God's blessing religion may be subserved by this humble 
periodical. 

The Indiana Religious Intelligencer, started without 
capital, with no support but the faith of a few missionaries 
whose annual income reached all the way from fifty to four 
hundred dollars, without a single salaried assistant, was 
published in the wilderness for eighteen months, and in a 
modest sphere was useful. With such scanty resources it 
was impossible, however, to maintain a rivalry with old and 
well-supported journals. The last and seventy-first num- 
ber appeared January 29, 1830. No doubt the work of 
the printers, at first C. P. J. Arion and afterward Arion & 
Lodge, had often to be in great part a labor of love. 
"It is now my desire and determination," observes Mr. 
Johnston, "to devote myself more exclusively and more 
zealously than ever to the work of the ministry." 

Meanwhile, March 26, 1829, he had been united in 
marriage with Mrs. Eliza Ann McChord, and had again 
visited his early home in New York. When the organiza- 
tion of a second church was effected in Madison he 
continued there as pastor of the new flock. For a single 
year he exchanged labors with the Rev. Henry Little, 
agent of the American Home Missionary Society. As 
stated clerk of Synod during the sad period of strife within 
our church he was required to assume grave responsibili- 
ties, and then exhibited qualities which won the admiration 
of opponents and friends. 

Finally, in 1843, he removed to Crawfordsville and for 
eight years was pastor of Centre Church. In 1851 he 
became principal of the female seminary at Crawfordsville, 



TWO FELLOW-TRAVELERS. 



203 



continuing in that position for about four years. From 
1854 to the summer of 1866 he led a laborious life of mis- 
sionary service, statedly preaching at Perrysville, Coving- 
ton, Eugene, Newport, Brown's Valley, and Parkersburgh, 
and frequently accepting calls for labor in yet other 
localities. In 1866 Centre Church, Crawfordsville, secured 
his services and during the succeeding winter nearly one 
hundred names were added to the roll. "As if to give a 
peculiarly splendid crown to his long period of service God 
blessed his ministry with the most remarkable revival ever 
experienced in the town." In August, 1867, he became 
pastor emeritus, retiring from active duty in the ministry. 
Having three years before preached for the last time, after 
a slow and peaceful decline he fell asleep March 8, 1876, 
and two days later, on the fifty-first anniversary of the 
commencement of his labors as pastor at Madison, he was 
laid to rest in Oak Hill Cemetery. 

In person tall and slender, of a grave countenance and 
demeanor, Mr. Johnston united great gentleness with 
unusual firmness and force. Not insensible to argument, 
his opinion when intelligently formed was with difficulty 
shaken. He inherited Colonel Witter Johnston's stead- 
fastness. 1 ' He is well remembered by the older residents 
of Sidney Plains as an amiable young man, remarkable for 
his diligence in the pursuit of knowledge, his freedom from 
the frivolities and excesses of youth, and perhaps more 
than all for his strictly conscientious deportment and 
exemplary religious character, which dates back almost to 
his earliest childhood. ' ' 1 

Ex-President Woolsey of Yale College writes : 2 

Mr. Johnston and I were classmates at Princeton in 1821, 1822, 
and 1823. In the last-mentioned year I left Princeton to be a tutor 
in Yale College. I have had a little correspondence with him 

1 " Sidney Centennial," p. 90. 

2 MS. letter dated June 30, 1876. 



204 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



since then by letter, but I believe that we have never met since 
that time. I esteemed and respected Mr. Johnston more perhaps 
than any other of my classmates. I had entire confidence in his 
character as a Christian man, and respected his manliness and 
soundness of judgment. We agreed then in our theology, and I 
always thought him cut out, as it were, to be a minister. It is 
now fifty-two years since our Princeton days, and the impression 
he made on me was so positive that I have never failed or abated 
in my respect for him. His traits of mind and character, as they 
presented themselves to me, were great soundness of judgment in 
practical matters, an uncommon amount of principle, and a 
solidity of character on which I could entirely rest. We all 
thought highly of his abilities, though he had nothing brilliant 
about him. He was a model to the class. 1 

What Mr. Johnston was in youth, and later in his 
student days, that he continued to be in old age, perhaps 
growing in mellowness and cheerfulness as the years in- 
creased. 

I have just been calling [says President Tuttle] on the vener- 
able patriarch of our church in Indiana, the Rev. James H. 
Johnston. There was no special reason for the call beyond the 
pleasure it brought the visitor himself. To-day I find him as 
cheerful and even hilarious as he ought to have been when so 
many years ago he dismounted in that pretty town on the Ohio 
for the first time. I have not heard a merrier laugh in many a 
day than his, as he told me of the inquiries made by himself and 
his traveling companion for a suitable stopping-place at Rising 
Sun, when on his first journey westward. They were told of a 
Major Jelly as keeping a sort of "ministers' tavern," and asked 
their informant if the major was a pious man. "He's only 
middling," was the reply. After his hearty laugh Mr. Johnston 
added, "We found the major was not a church member, but his 
wife was, and they gave us a cordial welcome." 2 

1 To an official letter dated : " Office of the A. H. M. S., 87 Nassau Street, January 
4, 1827," and signed, "Absalom Peters byT. D. Woolsey,"the following postscript is 
appended: " My dear friend, I know not that I should have fulfilled my promise made 
in the spring, of writing to you, if I had not been called to do it in this official manner. 
I am at present performing the duties of an assistant secretary of the A. H. M. S. until 
an individual can be found to take the place permanently and am happy that it has fallen 
to my lot to correspond with you. Ever yours, T. D. W." 

2 A communication dated December 9, 1872, and printed in the " Sidney Centennial 
Volume," pp. 90, 91. 



TWO FELLOW-TRAVELERS. 



205 



February 5, 1865, Mr. Johnston delivered at Crawfords- 
ville an historical discourse describing ' ' A Ministry of 
Forty Years in Indiana." The sermon was published, 
and not only preserves many valuable facts but uninten- 
tionally proves how large a part he himself was of the 
early days. Yet he says : l 

It is but an humble part I have borne. But I have great cause 
for thankfulness for the uniform health and strength that have 
been vouchsafed. Few, indeed, have been the Sabbaths, through- 
out this whole period, on which I have been prevented from 
preaching by bodily indisposition. And with the exception of 
four years, in which my duties in connection with Crawfordsville 
Female Seminary required my whole attention, I have seldom 
failed to preach on the Sabbath from any cause. The wonder is 
that I have been permitted to labor so long. Scott and Martin 
and Matthews and Dickey and Crowe, and very many others much 
younger than they, have passed away. Of the eight ministers 
that were present at the first meeting of the Synod of Indiana in 
1826, I am the only one now living, and of the fifteen that consti- 
tuted the whole number of Presbyterian ministers in the state in 
1825, all are in their graves but myself. 

But now, perhaps, the fellowship alluded to in a letter 
addressed to him by Albert Barnes has been attained, and 
not with his college friend alone, but also with his fellow- 
laborers upon this western field. 

I showed you yesterday the spot where I shall soon enter on 
my long, last sleep, and it is not improbable that my eyes will be 
closed in that long slumber before they will look on you again. 
Yet we shall not sleep in the sense that we shall, in no respect, 
be awake and conscious. In that spirit world of which we 
talked, and of which we felt that we knew so little, I trust we 
may often meet, before the archangel's trump shall awake the 
slumber of our graves. 2 

1 " Forty Years in Indiana," pp. 27, 28. 

2 Johnston's " Sermon on the Death of Albert Barnes," p. 13. 



CHAPTER XV. 

A Period of Increased Missionary Zeal. 
1825. 

New and more earnest discussions of the problems of 
domestic missions were just now prominent in influential 
circles of religious thought throughout the older states. 
Especially were the young men and the professors in the 
theological seminaries aroused. It has been seen what 
Princeton had done for Indiana alone during the year 
1824. There was the same wise enthusiasm at Andover. 
An important result of the missionary revival was the 
attempt to concentrate and thus to economize effort, and 
the consequent establishment of a national organization — 
the American Home Missionary Society. 1 There had thus 
far been a great variety of small local societies 2 ; there was 
now to be a system of labor for the whole land. In this 
enterprise the Presbyterians were largely and for the time 
happily united with the Congregationalist, the Reformed 
(Dutch) Church, and other evangelical Christians. 

Growing out of the awakened interest in domestic mis- 
sions at least six young men in the senior class of Andover 
Seminary 

had already decided to devote themselves to missionary labors in 
the western or southern portions of our country. These were 
Hiram Chamberlain, Augustus Pomeroy, Lucius Alden, John M. 
Ellis, Luther G. Bingham, and Aaron Foster. In looking about 
for some society under whose patronage and commission they 
might go forth, Mr. Bingham applied to the Connecticut Mission- 

1 For a valuable though not altogether dispassionate account of the origin of the 
A. H. M. S. see The Home Missionary, Vol. XLIX, No. r. 

2 Cf. Appendix I. 

206 



GROWING MISSIONARY ZEAL. 



207 



ary Society ; under the advice and agency of Rev. Dr. Porter, Mr. 
Foster made application to the Charleston (S. C.) Domestic 
Missionary Society, and the others to the United Domestic 
Missionary Society of New York. Upon request of this latter 
society, as suggested by Rev. Dr. Porter, four of the above-named 
young men — namely, Pomeroy, Alden, Ellis, and Bingham — on 
the evening of the day after the anniversary, that is the 29th of 
September, 1825 — were ordained as missionaries by a council 
called for the purpose in the Old South Church, Boston. . 
Mr. Chamberlain, being a member of Rev. Dr. Spring's church in 
New York, received ordination from a Presbytery. Mr. Foster, in 
connection with two or three other classmates, found it convenient 
to be ordained, October 19, 1825, in Rutland, Vt. And agreeably 
to an understanding with the executive committee in New York — 
who had agreed to take three of these young missionaries under 
their patronage — a request was made by said executive committee 
that a council should be called in Boston for their ordination. As 
this occasion was new, so it was one of great interest, and "was 
attended by persons interested in the prosperity of Zion from 
various parts of the United States." Rev. Matthias Bruen, of New 
York, preached the sermon from 1 Cor. iv. :i; Rev. Brown 
Emerson, of Salem, Mass., offered the ordaining prayer; Rev. 
Samuel H. Cox, D.D., of New York, gave the charge ; and Rev. 
Justin Edwards, of Andover, presented the right hand of fellow- 
ship. 

Thus set apart for the missionary work, Mr. Alden went to 
Indiana, Mr. Ellis to Illinois, Mr. Pomeroy to Missouri, where, in 
St. Louis, he met his friend, Rev. Hiram Chamberlain, under 
commission likewise from the United Domestic Missionary 
Society of New York. Rev. Mr. Bingham went to Ohio, under 
the patronage of the Connecticut Missionary Society, and for 
several years was pastor of the church at Marietta. Rev. Mr. 
Foster went to South Carolina, and was for a while pastor of the 
Presbyterian church in Pendleton. 1 

Lucius Alden had been one of the committee of six 
appointed by the "Society of Inquiry" at Andover, April 
12, 1825, to foster the interest in domestic missions 
throughout the Christian community. He received his 
first commission from the U. D. M. S. 



1 The Home Missionary , May, 1876, p. 4. 



208 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



One hundred dollars was granted him as an outfit to bear his 
expenses to the field of his contemplated ministry, with the 
expectation that he would locate himself where the principal part 
of his support would be paid by the people. We are now happy 
to state, from the reports of Mr. Alden, that after a tour of about 
eight weeks, in which he seems to have embraced, with great 
fidelity and zeal, every opportunity of subserving the cause of 
Christ, he became located on the 8th of January, 1826, in the town 
of Aurora, Dearborn County, Ind., where his prospects of ex- 
tended and increasing usefulness are such as to satisfy this 
committee that he has been wisely directed to that as the field 
of his future labors. Our missionary has been received with great 
cordiality by the people of that place and vicinity, and there 
is a prospect that they will be able to sustain a large portion 
of his support. With the exception of one Dearborn is the most 
populous county in the state and previous to the arrival of our 
missionary had no Presbyterian minister within its bounds. 1 

Reference is made to Mr. Alden in the official records of 
the two subsequent years : 

His labors appear to have been acceptable to the people and 
highly useful in the places above named [Lawrenceburgh and 
Aurora] and in several of the neighboring congregations, particu- 
larly in Caesar-Creek township, Broome County, Ky., where 
he has preached occasionally. As Lawrenceburgh is the seat of 
justice and Aurora the seat of a flourishing school, which has 
grown up under the fostering care of our missionary, these are re- 
garded by the committee as very interesting and important 
locations. 2 

The reports from these congregations [says the society the 
following year] have been interesting. Our missionary has been 
instrumental in forming four Sabbath-schools with libraries, one of 
which has one hundred scholars and eighteen teachers, and all 
of which are flourishing. 3 

With his other work Mr. Alden was able also to give 
some attention to the Hopewell church, near Dillsboro. 4 

1 Fourth Report of U. D. M. S., p. 22. 

2 Report of A. H. M. S., May, 1827, p. 12. 

3 Report of A. H. M. S., May, 1828, p. 11. 

4 Stewart's " History of Whitewater Presbytery," p. 23. 



GROWING MISSIONARY ZEAL. 



209 



In 1830 his field was " Rising Sun, Caesar Creek, and 
vicinity," and on July 7th of that year he writes to the 
secretary of the Indiana Missionary Society as follows : 

Within this field of labor are three small churches of the Presby- 
terians. We have one place of worship completed and arrange- 
ments are making to erect two others. We have a temperance 
society of one hundred and fifty members which has effected 
much good, diminishing the sale of ardent spirits three fourths in 
about six months, and some intemperate persons have been, we 
hope, thoroughly reformed. We have a tract society and have ex- 
pended about twenty dollars for tracts. Considerable has been 
done to supply the destitute with Bibles. Our Sunday-schools 
prosper and generally have libraries. A seminary of learning for 
the higher branches has been established, and considerably well 
sustained. Yet almost all here is yet to be done. A little pre- 
paratory work, however, has been accomplished. I am now to 
visit the East, and leave this people only with the prospect of 
occasional supplies from Presbytery. 

Princeton Seminary also continued its benefactions to 
the West, furnishing this year three new men to Indiana. 
Lewis McLeod came from the U. D. M. S., having 
obtained his commission a few days earlier than Mr. Alden. 

One hundred dollars was granted him as an outfit, with the 
expectation that he would be able to select a location where his 
support after reaching the field of his labors would be derived 
principally from the people. Our missionary writes us from Har- 
rison in that state 1 Under date of March 13, 1826, that having visited 
several places in Indiana, which present very interesting and 
important fields for missionary enterprise, he has at length con- 
cluded to spend the summer on the White Waters, chiefly in 
the county of Dearborn. This he has found to be a very destitute 
region, and one which presents great encouragement to the faith- 
ful labors of a minister of Christ. 2 

After traveling extensively in the state Mr. McLeod, 
however, finally located himself at Augusta, Ky. 

1 Harrison was in Ohio. 

2 Report of the U. D. M. S., May, 1826, p. 34. 



2IO EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

James Stewart served the Rushville church for a few 
months, and for a similar brief period labored in the south- 
western part of the state. 

Samuel Gregg, a licentiate of New Brunswick Pres- 
bytery, was a Tennessean by birth, tall, spare, bent, with 
thin cheeks, a good man, and a good preacher. After 
five months of horseback service in Bartholomew, Shelby, 
and Johnson Counties, he was ordained by Madison Pres- 
bytery, October 7, 1826, and installed as pastor of Jeffer- 
son church. 1 Here he remained for about ten years, when 
he returned to his native state and took charge of the Mt. 
Zion and Meadow Creek churches. Once more taking a 
parish in Indiana he connected himself with the Presby- 
tery of Crawfordsville, but his health soon failed and his 
name appears upon the obituary roll presented to the 
Assembly (N. S.) of 1843. 

' ' Mr. Gregg was a frequent and most welcome visitor at 
my father's house," says an aged member of the Shelby- 
ville congregation, " and invariably he took the Bible and 
gathered us children around him, and taught us a chapter 
in an impressive and attractive manner. The first re- 
ligious conversation I ever had was with him." He 
organized the first Sunday-school in Shelby County. 

William Nesbit, formerly pastor of the Hopewell con- 
gregation in Hartford Presbytery, Synod of Pittsburg, 
was sent this year to Perry and Spencer Counties. 

Stephen Bliss is a name that belongs especially to 
Illinois, but his ordination by Salem Presbytery, August 6, 
1825, his intimate association with ministers of the Synod 
of Indiana, and his occasional labor on the eastern bank of 
the Wabash require some reference to him here. Born in 

l Dr. Henry Little, during his first Indiana journey, saw him there, and on the same 
occasion found the father of the Rev. Henry L. Dickerson ardently exercising his gifts 
as music-master. 



GROWING MISSIONARY ZEAL. 



211 



Lebanon, N. H., March 27, 1787, prepared for the junior 
class in college under the tuition of his uncle, the Rev. Dr. 
Samuel Wood, of Boscaween, a graduate of Middlebury 
in 181 2, a student of theology for two years in his uncle's 
parsonage, he applied in 18 14 to the Hopkinton Associa- 
tion for licensure, but was rejected on account of what 
were deemed defective views of the person and work of 
the Redeemer. He turned to the Yankee boy's unfailing 
resource, and had charge successively at Greenbush, 
Milton, and Utica of important schools, where his reputa- 
tion steadily increased, securing to him from Hamilton 
College the complimentary degree of Master of Arts. 
Consumption, the scourge of his family, compelled him, 
however, to seek a change of climate, and in September, 
1 818, he set out on horseback, with his friend May, for 
the West. He traversed Ohio and Indiana, crossed the 
Wabash at Vincennes, and purchased a small farm on 
Decker's Prairie. April 11, 1819, the two friends opened 
what was perhaps the first Sunday-school in Illinois. In 
the autumn of 1820 he traveled back to New Hampshire, 
and was married, April 7, 1821, to Miss Elizabeth, 
daughter of the Rev. Dr. Noah Worcester. Returning 
with his bride to the log house on the Illinois prairie, 
Sabbath ' ' reading meetings ' ' were soon instituted, Mr. 
Bliss conducting the service. The Hopkinton Associa- 
tion, through the influence of Dr. Wood, in 1822 review- 
ing its action with regard to him, sent him a license, and 
he began in an informal way to preach in his own neigh- 
borhood, gathering the little flock which he was long to 
lead, and which, as the Wabash Presbyterian Church, 
still reveres his memory. What was the estimation in 
which the people held him is shown by his unsolicited 
election in October, 1824, to the senate of the state. 
Returning from the first session of the legislature in Van- 
dalia he went, with his elders, Danforth and Gould, to 



212 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Washington, Ind., where occurred his ordination by 
Salem Presbytery. Of the work thus at last prepared by 
providence there was no serious interruption until the 
death of the pastor, December 6, 1847. 

Mr. Bliss was a man of substantial abilities, great kind- 
ness and modesty, uncommon perseverance, evangelical 
character, and permanent usefulness. Though not impas- 
sioned in utterance, as a public speaker he was both 
instructive and impressive. Except in a period of strife 
his theological views would perhaps not have been 
criticized, and his mature opinions occasioned him no 
embarrassment among the ' ' Old-school ' ' Presbyterians of 
Illinois. 1 

Samuel G. Lowry was born March 26, 1800, in 
Washington County, Tenn. , and received his education at 
Washington College in his native state. Licensed by 
Ebenezer Presbytery October 6, 1821, and ordained by 
the same Presbytery December, 1822, he came to Indiana 
in December, 1825, and was received by Madison from 
Cincinnati Presbytery Octobers, 1826. For seven years 
he labored in Decatur County in charge of Sand Creek 
(now Kingston) church, and during four and a half years 
of that period also cared for the church at Greensburgh, 
which he himself organized May 2, 1826. Supplying the 
pulpit of Poplar Spring church, Putnam County, for two 
years from 1832, an agent of the A. H. M. Society from 
1834 to 1839, during a part of which time he was likewise 
engaged as agent of Wabash College, preaching for nearly 
eight years at Rockville from July, 1839, his last charge in 
Indiana comprised the Bainbridge and New Winchester 
congregations, over which he was installed in February, 
1848. While at Bainbridge he gave a portion of his time 
to the churches of Parkersburgh and Waveland. Resigning 
his position in November, 1856, he removed to Minnesota 

1 See " Life and Times of Stephen Bliss," by Samuel C. Baldridge, Cincinnati, 1870. 



GROWING MISSIONARY ZEAL. 



213 



in the spring of 1857, where he remained until his death, 
at Austin, September 26, 1886. Of all the Indiana pioneers 
settled previous to 1826 he was long the solitary survivor. 
The Rev. Thomas S. Milligan wrote : 

Mr. Lowry spent more than thirty years of his ministry in 
Indiana and performed much hard labor for the churches, besides 
enduring a great amount of physical toil in providing for a numer- 
ous family. 1 His amiable manners, practical wisdom, his familiar 
acquaintance with ecclesiastical law, his soundness of doctrine and 
wide experience made him useful in an eminent degree. 2 

1 This was an incident frequently emphasizing the necessity of applications to the 
missionary treasury. The Sand Creek church in its request for aid wrote to the 
A. H. M. S., September, 1825 : " Our proposed minister is a young man with a rising 
family, who has expended his small patrimony in preparing himself to preach the gos- 
pel." Report, May, 1826, p. 69. 

2 See also Sluter's " History of the Shelbyville Church," pp. 10, 11. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Organization of the Synod of Indiana. 
1826. 

What Indiana was in 1826 we may learn from one 
whose observation was uncommonly intelligent and whose 
pen was singularly graceful. It was no doubt George 
Bush who wrote from Indianapolis, November 30, his im- 
pressions of his western field :* 

The state of Indiana presents at this moment a field both of 
action and contemplation in the highest degree interesting. 
Possessing a territory of which the beauty of its visible aspect is 
equaled only by the amazing fertility of the soil, a soil un- 
moistened by the sweat or the tears or the blood of the slave, 
it must soon, from its local relations and its internal resour- 
ces, rank with the most populous states of the Union. It is 
now teeming with the hordes of emigration, and the progress of 
improvement is inconceivable. The earlier inhabitants, in viewing 
or describing the changes which ten or fifteen years have effected 
in the state of this immense forest (as it was at that time), can 
scarce refrain from bursts of astonishment. Though the trees, 
wherever you travel, bear the marks of the Indian tomahawk, 
and the very poles and the crisped barks which formed their 
temporary camps are still to be seen, yet farms are everywhere 
opening in the wilderness, the resounding axe is heard as often 
and as far as the yells of wild beasts, the nimble deer feed among 
the domestic herds, and every twenty or thirty miles the spire of 
a handsome court-house of brick rises amidst the deadened 
trunks of the poplars, walnuts, and oaks. 

From living in a central part of the state, on a road that forms 
the great thoroughfare from the East to the West, I am situated 
favorably for observing the flow of emigration. During the 
autumnal months, nothing is more common than to see ten, 

l See Report of A. H. M. S. for 1827, pp. 93-5. 

214 



INDIANA SYNOD ORGANIZES. 



215 



fifteen, or twenty wagons passing in a single day, carrying the 
little all of the families, which pass in groups by their sides. As 
many as thirty of these loaded wagons have been known to camp 
for the night at the same spot in the wilderness. The destina- 
tion of the great body of emigrants that pass through the center 
of the state is the tract of country bordering along the Wabash, 
particularly from the point where this river falls in with the 
eastern boundary line of Illinois, upward toward its source. 
This region is becoming the garden spot of Indiana ; and the rate 
at which population is augmenting in that quarter exceeds belief. 
And truly, from the acquaintance I have gained, during a recent 
tour to the Wabash, with that part of the state, I am ready to 
believe that, were a stranger to the peculiar features of the 
Mississippi Valley to be suddenly set down in any of the prairie 
tracts which adorn that noble stream, he could not but wonder 
that the wisdom and goodness of providence should have so long 
withheld such enchanting regions from the possession of civilized 
men. 

Such is the natural character of a very considerable portion of a 
country, of which its moral aspect forms a mournful reverse to the 
sketch now given. The Canaanite is yet in the land ; its clusters 
are the clusters of Sodom. Not that the body of the population 
are entirely regardless of any form of religion. On the contrary, 
there is an abundance of what is called the preaching of the 
gospel ; much of a disposition to hear ; much of a certain kind of 
zeal and of the form of godliness. But alas ! there is little, little of 
the true evangelical dispensation of the word of life, or its 
appropriate fruits. 

This dark view, however, we are happy to state, is relieved 
by many grateful facts of a different kind. The Lord has a 
chosen seed scattered here and there over this barren land. And 
the lonely missionary who turns aside to tarry for a night in 
the humble cabins of the wilderness will often find himself 
delighted and refreshed by the pious conversation and prayers of 
a venerable father or mother in Christ. These are they who 
are pining for the bread of life, who are turning their anxious eyes 
to the proffered aid of your society. They are few in number and 
weak in means ; but could the gospel once be statedly fixed 
among them, their prospects would be enlightened, as it is 
well ascertained that there is scarcely any settlement in the 
country containing a few pious families but the number would 
be speedily increased by emigrants were there only a certainty 



216 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANI5M. 



that the privileges and ordinances of the gospel awaited their 
arrival. How then shall this seed become productive of a future 
harvest without cultivators ? And where are the cultivators to be 
found ? They are not in the field ; nor are they rearing up in the 
midst of us. In the Presbyterian connection there are not three 
candidates for the ministry in the whole state. Whence then shall 
we look for Pauls and Apolloses to tend the husbandry of God 
but to your society? 

Our population at present is rated at between 200.000 and 300,- 
000 ; and we have only twelve resident Presbyterian ministers in 
the state. The Presbytery to which I belong embraces a range or 
territory nearly 200 miles in length and So in breadth ; in which we 
have only four members with charges, though we number 
nineteen congregations. I am stationed in the center of a large 
body of population, yet my nearest clerical neighbor lives at 
the distance of 50 or 60 miles. I was this year obliged to travel 
140 miles to attend Presbytery. 

The scarcity of ministers and missionaries forms the burden 
of our lamentation. Few are the}* who are found ready to devote 
themselves to the blessed apostolical work of seeking the wander- 
ing sheep ; fewer, no doubt, than they would be. could those who 
have abundance be persuaded to bestow a part of it toward 
furnishing the laborer with his well-earned hire. "The Lord's 
sheep are scattered because there is no shepherd ; yea. his flock 
are scattered upon all the face of the earth and there is none 
to search or seek after them." Most earnestly therefore do we 
request that shepherds may be sent among us, those who shall 
' 1 seek that which is lost, and bring again that which is driven 
away, and bind up that which is broken, and strengthen that 
which is sick." 

The needed ' ' shepherds ' ' came slowly. Truman Per- 
rin. however, of the Royalton Association of Vermont, 
arrived this year, having been summoned to take charge of 
the Presbyterian seminar}- at Vincennes. He was also- 
helpful in the pulpits on both banks of the Wabash, 
but did not formally connect himself with Presbytery. As 
a corresponding member he was present in the Synod 
of Indiana at its first meeting, and again the subsequent 
year. 



INDIANA SYNOD ORGANIZES. 



217 



James Crawford, a Princeton graduate, "was ap- 
pointed as a missionary in Indiana" by the A. H. M. S., 
August 14, 1826. He reached the state December 1, and 
labored in Jennings County, "in a circuit embracing 
Paris, Vernon, and Dartmouth." In northern Indiana his 
usefulness extended through many years. 1 

Samuel E. Blackburn, a licentiate of Louisville Pres- 
bytery, was received by Salem Presbytery, and on 
December 1, 1826, was ordained at Jeffersonville. 

James Duncan, a minister of the kirk of Scotland, a 
man of force and scholarship, coming to America had 
settled in the neighborhood of Steubenville, Ohio. He 
was received by Madison Presbytery October 5, 1826. 
Already an old man, and afflicted with dropsy, he preached 
irregularly. He frequently visited the family of Mr. 
Alexander Gordon, at Shelbyville, where he occupied his 
leisure upon the manuscript of a volume of sermons which 
he afterward printed. 2 

On his foot-journeyings through the state [says James M. Ray 3 ] 
he preached several times in the Indianapolis church. He was a 
well-built, broad-shouldered, sturdy traveler, a scholar of the 
olden days, having the paragraphs of his sermons duly numbered, 
and taking his periods so leisurely that his stopping at times to 
•cut a chew of tobacco with his jack-knife from a plug from his 
pocket would only cause him to say to us, "Well, well, as I was 
stating under my last head." He was the father of Congressman 
Duncan, from Cincinnati. Among the scraps of memories of his 
preaching I still have hold of one in which he manifested to his 
own satisfaction, and doubtless to all those who had kept awake 

1 See The Home Missionary , Vol. I., pp. 116, 183 ; Vol. II., pp. 63, 176; Vol. III., p. 
134; Stewart's "Recollections of Carroll County," and Ranney's " History of the 
Presbyterian Church, Delphi, Carroll County." 

2 A copy of this rare volume was presented to the Franklin church, at its semi- 
•centennial, by Judge Fabius M. Finch. 

3 MS. " History of the Early Days of Presbyterianism at Indianapolis." Cf. Judge 
Banta's " Historical Address " at Franklin, pp. 18, 19. 



2l8 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



in a summer day, that slavery was a breach of every one of the 
Twelve Commandments. 

Among the missionaries of the Assembly this year were 
Isaac A. Ogden in Union, Franklin, and Fayette Coun- 
ties, and Joseph Robinson in Bartholomew and Shelby 
Counties. 

The event of the year, however, was the organization, 
by an act of the General Assembly on the 29th of May, of 
the Synod of Indiana, consisting of the four Presbyteries of 
Salem, Madison, Wabash, and Missouri, and including, 
besides nearly the whole of Indiana, vast regions in 
Missouri and Illinois. To the Indiana congregations and 
ministers, thus far required to contemplate annually a long, 
toilsome, and perilous journey across the Ohio to the 
Kentucky Synod, it occasioned most welcome relief to see 
the center of ecclesiastical power transferred to their own 
borders. 

Old Vincennes was appropriately designated by the 
Assembly as the first place of meeting. Baynard R. Hall, 
who was present, has described the horseback ride from 
Bloomington. 

Uncle John had been appointed lay delegate from the Welden 
Diocese to attend an ecclesiastical convention about to meet early 
this fall at Vincennes ; and he now, before our return to Wood- 
ville, obtained my promise to accompany him. Accordingly, a 
few days after our return, he, and with him Bishop Shrub, called 
on me, and we three set out for the convention, or — as all such 
gatherings are there called — the Big Meeting. 

The weather was luxurious, and the ride across the small 
prairies was to me, who now for the first time saw these natural 
meadows, indescribably bewitching ; indeed, this first glimpse of 
the prairie world was like beholding an enchanted country. . . 
The bosoms of these grassy lakes undulate at the slightest breeze, 
and are sprinkled with picturesque islets of timber, on which the 
trees are fancifully and regularly disposed, suggesting an arrange- 
ment by the taste of an unrecorded people of bygone centuries 
for pleasure and religion. The whole brought back delusive 



INDIANA SYNOD ORGANIZES. 



219 



dreams — we felt the strange and half celestial thrill of a fairy 
scene. 

. . . This Protestant assembly was a gathering of delegates 
principally from the land of Hoosiers and Suckers, but with a 
smart sprinkling of Corn-crackers and a small chance of Pukes 
from beyond the father of floods, and even one or two from the 
Buckeye country. These were not all eminent for learning, and 
polish, and dress, wearing neither doane gowns nor cocked hats ; 
although some there were worthy seats in the most august 
assemblies anywhere and however distinguished for wit, learning, 
and goodness. Most of these Protestants, indeed, carried to 
excess a somewhat false and dangerous maxim — "Better wear 
out than rust out," since it is better to do neither. And worn, 
truly, were they, both in apparel and body, as they entered the 
town on jaded horses, after many days of hard and dangerous 
traveling away from their cabin-homes, left far behind in dim 
woods, beyond rivers, hills, and prairies. 

. . . Truly it was a House of Bishops, if not of Lords ; if 
by a bishop is meant one that has the care of many congrega- 
tions, an enormous parish, abundant religious labors, and a salary 
of one or two hundred dollars above nothing. In the midst of so 
fraternal a band of ministers and brothers, I was constantly 
reminded of an old saying, " Behold how these Christians love 
one another." What could exceed their cordial and reciprocal 
greetings at each arrival ? What their courtesy in debate ? What 
the deep interest in each other's welfare, the lively emotions 
excited by their religious narratives and anecdotes ? And then 
their tender farewells ! To many the separation was final as to 
this life. 1 

Of this interesting meeting, the first Indiana Synod, the 
following full abstract from the records is taken : 

The Synod of Indiana convened at Vincennes on the 18th day of 
October, 1826, agreeably to the appointment of the General 
Assembly. Rev. William W. Martin, the person appointed to 
preach the opening sermon, being absent, Synod was opened 
with a sermon from Rev. John M. Dickey on Genesis xviii.:i9. 
Constituted with prayer. 

Present : From Missouri Presbytery, Mr. Salmon Giddings, 

1 See "The New Purchase," 3d. ed., pp. 271, 272, 278, 279. The thin veil of 
romance in these descriptions is easily penetrated. Cf. Chapter XIII. 



220 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



minister, and Mr. James McClung, elder ; from Salem Presbytery, 
Mr. Tilly H. Brown, minister, and Mr. James Young, elder ; from 
Wabash Presbytery, Messrs. Samuel T. Scott, George Bush, and 
Baynard R. Hall, ministers, and Messrs. James Scott, John 
Orchard, Frederick Dey HofF, John Holme, James Carnahan, 
Robert Taylor, Thomas Gold, Samuel Peery, and James McKee, 
elders ; from Madison Presbytery, Messrs. John M. Dickey, John 
F. Crow, and James H. Johnston, ministers, and Alexander 
Walker, elder. 

Absent : From Missouri Presbytery, Rev. Messrs. John Mat- 
thews, Charles S. Robinson, Thomas Donnell, John Brich, 
William S. Lacy, and John S. Ball ; from Salem Presbytery, Rev. 
Messrs. William W. Martin, John Todd, John T. Hamilton, and 
Alexander Williamson ; from Wabash Presbytery, Rev. Messrs. 
Isaac Reed and Stephen Bliss ; from Madison Presbytery, Rev. 
Messrs. William Robinson, James Duncan, Samuel G. Lowry, 
and Samuel Gregg. 

Mr. Dickey was appointed moderator, Mr. Johnston clerk, and 
Mr. Brown assistant clerk. 

Rev. Truman Perrin, from the convention of Vermont, being 
present, was requested to take his seat as a corresponding member. 

Resolved, That Synod adopt the General Rules for Judicatories, 
recommended by the General Assembly, as the general rules of 
this Synod. 

Messrs. Samuel T. Scott, Crow, Giddings, and Dickey were 
appointed a committee to prepare Permanent Regulations and a 
Standing Docket. Messrs. Crow and Dey Hoff were appointed a 
committee to examine the records of Missouri Presbytery. 
Messrs. Samuel T. Scott and Carnahan, a committee to examine 
the records of Madison Presbytery. Messrs. Giddings and Holme 
to examine the records of Salem Presbytery. Messrs. Johnston 
and Walker to examine the records of Wabash Presbytery. 
Messrs. Crow and Bush were appointed a committee to prepare a 
Synodical report. Messrs. Samuel T. Scott, Bush, James Scott, 
and Holme were appointed a committee of Bills and Overtures, 
to meet at this place to-morrow morning at 8:30 o'clock and after- 
ward on their own adjournments. Messrs. Crow, Hall, Brown, 
McKee, and Gold were appointed a committee for judicial pur- 
poses, to meet at this place to-morrow morning at 8:30 o'clock and 
afterward on their own adjournments. 

Presbyterial reports were presented from Missouri, Salem, and 
Madison Presbyteries, all of which were accepted. 



INDIANA SYNOD ORGANIZES. 



221 



On motion, Resolved, That Synod meet to-morrow morning at 
6:30 o'clock to spend a season in special prayer that a spirit of 
union and harmony may be granted during its deliberations. 
Adjourned. Concluded with prayer. 

October igth. Synod met agreeably to adjournment. Consti- 
tuted with prayer. Members present as on yesterday. Minutes of 
yesterday were read. Synod spent a season in social prayer. 

. . . Resolved, That Synod proceed to the election of a stated 
clerk and treasurer. Whereupon Mr. Johnston was appointed 
stated clerk and Mr. Crow treasurer. 

. . . An overture was presented requesting Synod to form a 
new Presbytery in the state of Illinois, making the boundaries of 
the state the boundaries of the Presbytery. . . . After some 
discussion it was resolved that this business be indefinitely post- 
poned. 

An overture was presented requesting Synod to appoint a com- 
mittee to prepare a petition to the General Assembly, to make the 
Ohio River our boundary on the south and the eastern line of 
Indiana our boundary on the east. This overture was now taken 
up and Messrs. Johnston, Crow, and Giddings were appointed 
said committee. 

. . . An overture was presented requesting Synod to con- 
sider whether some plan may not be adopted to put a stop, 
in some measure, to the growing evils resulting from the intem- 
perate use of spirituous liquors and the profanation of the Sabbath 
within our bounds. 

Resolved, That this overture be now taken up and a committee 
be appointed to report on the subject before the close of the 
present session of the Synod. Messrs. Giddings, Hall, and 
Crow were appointed said committee. 

An overture was presented requesting Synod to consider what 
exertions ought to be made by this body to secure the location of 
the Western Theological Seminary at Charlestown in Indiana. 

Resolved, That this overture be now taken up and a committee 
be appointed to report on the same before the close of the present 
sessions of Synod. Messrs. Giddings, Bush, Hall, Crow, and 
Johnston were appointed said committee. 

The following Preamble and Resolutions were presented for the 
consideration of Synod, viz. : 

Whereas, Salem Presbytery at its spring session in 1825 
appointed a committee to prepare a succinct history of the 
churches under its care, which history was not completed until 



222 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



after the division of said Presbytery and the formation of the 
Synod of Indiana, therefore 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to examine said 
history and report to Synod what disposition shall be made of it. 
Messrs. Giddings, Hall, and Carnahan were appointed a com- 
mittee agreeably to the above resolution. 

Resolved, That Mr. Bush be appointed to preach the missionary 
sermon at the next meeting and that Mr. Hall be his alternate. 

Resolved, That Mr. Scott be appointed to preach the "Concio ad 
clerum" at the next meeting and that Mr. Crow be his alternate. 



October 20th. Synod met agreeably to adjournment. . . . 
The committee appointed to report on the growing evils of intem- 
perance and Sabbath breaking presented a report which was 
accepted and adopted and is as follows, viz. : 

The committee appointed to inquire what can be done to 
remedy the evils arising from the intemperate use of ardent spirits 
and the profanation of the Sabbath beg leave to report, 

1. That Synod recommend to each minister to preach a sermon 
on the subject of intemperance. 

2. That Synod procure one hundred and fifty printed copies of a 
memorial to Congress, praying for an excise upon spirituous 
liquors, to be distributed among the members of Synod. 

3. -That Synod recommend to its members to use their exertions 
to obtain subscribers to this memorial, to secure the cooperation 
of other denominations, and to forward the memorial as soon 
as practicable to our representatives, at the ensuing session of 
Congress. 

4. That Synod enjoin upon its members to pay particular atten- 
tion to the recommendation of the General Assembly on the 
profanation of the Lord's Day contained in the 29th and 30th pages 
of their minutes for 1826. 

Mr. Hall was appointed to superintend the printing of the 
memorial above referred to. 

The committee appointed to prepare a petition to the General 
Assembly respecting boundaries presented a report which was 
accepted and adopted and is as follows, viz. : 

The committee appointed to prepare a petition to the General 
Assembly submit the following : To the Rev. Moderator of the 
General Assembly : 

Rev. Sir: Permit us through you to lay before your body the 



INDIANA SYNOD ORGANIZES. 



223 



following resolution of the Synod of Indiana passed at its sessions 
in Vincennes at its first meeting, viz. : 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare a petition 
to the General Assembly to make the Ohio River our boundary 
on the south and the eastern line of the state of Indiana our 
boundary on the east. In support of the above petition we would 
respectfully offer the following considerations : 

1. We deem it very desirable that the boundaries of our respect- 
ive Synods should be so obvious and notorious that there can be 
no difficulty in ascertaining them and consequently no conflicting 
claims to congregations. That a case of this kind occurred in 
respect to Sand Creek church will be seen by referring to the 
minutes of the General Assembly of 1825. 

2. The boundaries of the state of Indiana seem to be the natural 
boundaries of the Synod of the same name. 

3. As the Presbytery of Missouri is attached to the Synod 
of Indiana, and the state of Illinois seems naturally to belong 
to the same Synod, it appears improper for the jurisdiction of the 
Kentucky Synod to extend north of the Ohio River. 

4. The convenience of the churches within the specified limits 
requires that they should all be attached to the same Synod. 

5. The desire of the churches that would be affected by the 
proposed alterations has been expressed, to a considerable extent 
at least, decidedly in favor of these alterations. 

Resolved, That the above petition be signed by the moderator 
and forwarded by the stated clerk to the General Assembly. 

Resolved, moreover, that the stated clerk be directed to write 
to the stated clerks of the Muhlenburg, Cincinnati, and Miami 
Presbyteries, and inform them of the measures adopted by Synod 
on this subject and request the cooperation of their respective 
Presbyteries. 

. . . The following overture was taken up, viz. : "Is it right 
for ministers of our order to invite ministers of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian order to assist in the administration of the sealing 
ordinances? " 

Resolved, That this business be indefinitely postponed. 
. . . The following overture was taken up and adopted, viz. : 
Whereas our Synod presents a great missionary field which 
ought to be occupied, and inasmuch as our people are more ready 
to contribute for missionary exertions within our bounds, 
therefore, 

Resolved, That the General Assembly be requested to permit 



2 24 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

this Synod to manage its own missionary concerns and that 
the stated clerk be directed to forward this- resolution to the 
General Assembly. 

. . . Synod adjourned to meet at Salem on the third Thurs- 
day of October next. Concluded with prayer and the Apostolic 
Benediction. 

John M. Dickey, Moderator. 
James H. Johnston, Clerk. 

Having now traversed the first period of our Indiana 
church history, concluded in the establishment of the 
Synod, the limit of these studies has been reached. What 
we have seen may well satisfy our pride. The roll-call of 
pioneers in any presence may be listened to with gladness 
and gratitude. Their labors were prodigious. Their success 
was abundant. Their reward is assured. It will be our 
duty not to forget what they heroically and wisely did to lay 
the foundations of that Christian society whose privileges 
remain for us and for our children. 

The five good men who came in 1827 have all passed 
from earth. Calvin Butler, from Andover and the A. 
H. M. Society, was for twenty years eminently useful at 
Princeton, Evansville, Washington, Booneville, and other 
points. 1 

The two following letters, addressed by Mr. Butler to 
the secretary of the Indiana Missionary Society, are better 
than a biography : 

Andover Theological Seminary, June 22, 1827. 
Rev. and Dear Sir : I learn from the first Report of the A. H. 
M. S., of which the Rev. A. Peters is the corresponding secretary, 
that the Rev. James H. Johnston is the corresponding secretary 
of the Indiana Missionary Society. I have agreed to go as a mis- 
sionary to Indiana under the patronage of the A. H. M. S. The 
report of the Executive Committee of that Society runs thus : 
"Your appointment, therefore, is for twelve months from your 

1 See McCarer's "Memorial Sermon"; A. H. M. S. Reports, 1828-1835; The 
Home Missionary, Vol. I., p. 11 ; Vol. II., p. 195 ; Vol. III., p. 200. 



INDIANA SYNOD ORGANIZES. 



225 



arrival on the field of labor, to labor in such place or places in the 
State of Indiana as shall be advised by the Indiana Missionary So- 
ciety." The object of my writing is that you, as Cor. Sec. of your 
Society, would write me, as soon as possible, designating the field 
to which I shall bear my course immediately after leaving this 
Seminary. 

I wish to state explicitly the situation in which I am going. I am 
going with a companion ; not, however, with a feeble, sickly thing, 
unaccustomed to any place except the parlor. The health of my 
intended companion, like my own, is at present perfectly good. 
We both have firm constitutions. I am to receive my support, in- 
cluding what I may obtain from the people there, from the A. H. 
M. S. I am going with the expectation of staying there, and of 
settling, when it shall be convenient and best. I am going without 
any property, except it be a good library, but am owing more than 
the value of that ; but I think I know the meaning of the old adage 
— " Necessity is the mother of Invention," and I hope I am not 
ignorant of another of a superior kind — " For we walk by faith, 
not by sight." 

I have been thus explicit because Mr. Bush from Indianapolis, 
who is here at present, told me that there were many places to 
which he should not recommend a man to go with a companion ; 
but there were others where he should. I have no particular 
choice, except it be to go where there is a fair prospect of enjoy- 
ing good health and of doing the most good. If there were two 
places equal, as it regards these, the one lying on the river 
Wabash and the other in the country, probably I should prefer 
the former. Mr. Bush mentioned some places which he considered 
the most important, viz. : Terre Haute, Crawfordsville, Raccoon, 
Franklin County, and Bartholomew County. Still he said you 
would decide it. 

I hope to start from New England about the middle of October 
next, and I wish to know the field of labor as soon as possible, in 
order to make the necessary preparations. 

I am requested to make a similar inquiry for a definite field of 
labor for Brother Cobb, a classmate, who is going to labor under 
the patronage of the same society. I will give you the vote of the 
Ex. Com., viz. : Voted to commission Mr. Leander Cobb, to labor 
twelve months in such place or places in the State of Indiana, or 
Illinois, as shall be advised by the Indiana Missionary Society. 
Mr. Cobb will go out single, but wishes to know where his field of 
labor is as soon as possible. Mr. Bush mentioned Fountain and 



226 



EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Tippecanoe Counties, Vermillion, Putnam, Owen, and Morgan 
Counties as inviting fields for Brother Cobb. 

Princeton, Nov. 30, 1827. 
Rev. and Dear Sir : After the trials of a long and tedious 
journey I have at last arrived at what I shall call the place of my 
destination. Myself and companion were mercifully preserved in 
perfect health and without accident through the whole way. 
When we arrived at Indianapolis we were somewhat disappointed 
to learn that Terre Haute was preoccupied. Our minds had been 
fixed upon that place ever since I received your letter last summer 
and for some time before ; but I doubt not that it was all ordered 
for the best. I was still further disappointed not to find according 
to your letter — "a copy of instructions ready for me at Indianapo- 
lis, ' ' but still shall hope 'tis all for the best. I was told there that my 
place of location was to be at Washington and that I was to labor 
in Washington, Paoli, and Princeton. I went to Washington and 
Mr. Carnahan told me that I was to locate myself in either of the 
places, and was to labor in the vicinity of the place I should choose, 
and not in the other two places. I thought he must be correct 
as- he was personally interested. I accordingly went to Paoli, and 
made some inquiries, and went to see Mr. Martin, supposing that 
he would know all about it. He told me as he understood the 
business it would be proper for me to select any place within the 
bounds of the Salem Presbytery, or in Washington, etc. I then 
went to Princeton, and made what inquiries were necessary, and 
called on Mr. Scott as I returned to Washington, where I had left 
my wife. He thought I was to labor in Washington and Porters- 
ville and that no other places were assigned. I then concluded 
to make my own selection, according as I thought the path of 
duty marked out, after I had made all necessary inquiries ; and 
accordingly came to this place. I thought it would be eventually 
more for the interest of Christ's kingdom to come here than to 
stay in Washington, because the principal part of the inhabitants 
are not professors of any denomination, and still they are very 
anxious to have a Presbyterian minister reside among them. 
They have also a fine institution just coming into existence which 
they wish to have patronized in such a manner as to make it valu- 
able to the cause of education. At Washington they are mostly 
professors of some denomination. They have also a Cumberland 
minister among them and although they have a large church and 
are anxious that I should stay, still I thought it more for the interest 
of the cause to come to this place, which is larger and unoccupied. 



INDIANA SYNOD ORGANIZES. 



227 



Leander Cobb, also from Andover, labored long in 
Clark and Washington Counties, returning to Massachu- 
setts in 1 84 1. 1 William Lowry, a Princeton graduate of 
unusual promise and maturity, was drowned in the Drift- 
wood, near Columbus, February 11, 1828. 2 William 
Henderson was received from Ebenezer Presbytery, but 
in a few months died. James Thomson, eldest son of 
John Thomson, of Springfield, Ohio, licensed by Cincin- 
nati Presbytery, October 5, 1826, and ordained October 
3, 1827, came to the wilderness where Crawfordsville has 
been built and was prominent in the penniless quintet of 
missionaries who, a little later, established Wabash 
College. He died at Mankato, Minn., October 4, 1873. 

Our review closes just as a second generation of noble 
men, some of whom are still among us, appears to prose- 
cute the Master's work. The last name recorded natu- 
rally suggests a brief consideration of what was accom- 
plished by Presbyterians for the cause of education in 
Indiana, during these first years. 

1 See A. H. M. S. Reports ; " Salem Presbytery Reporter "; The Home Mis- 
sionary, Vol. I., pp. 11, 63, 98, 182 ; Vol. II., pp. 81, 141 ; Vol. III., pp. 60, 119, 201. 

2 See an obituary notice in Report of A. H. M. S., 1828, p. 31. The water- 
stained Confession of Faith found in the saddle-bags of the missionary after his death is 
an interesting relic of the " perils of waters " in the early days. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Indiana Presbyterians and Education. 

Presbyterians build schoolhouse and church side by 
side. In all their history and in many lands they have 
been educators. Upon American soil this characteristic 
tendency has noticeably appeared. Of Indiana it is 
almost literally true that there were no schools until the 
Presbyterian minister arrived. Nearly without exception 
the first ministers were school-teachers also, and when an 
exception did occur the minister's wife usually was com- 
petent and willing to take upon herself what had come to 
be regarded as a feature of the ordinary pastoral work. 
Scott at Vincennes, about 1803, and Baldridge at Law- 
renceburgh, as early as 181 1, started schools. Who in 
Indiana taught Greek and Latin before them ? 1 Their 
immediate successors in the pulpits — Robinson, Dickey, 
Todd, Martin, Reed — all followed them into the school- 
room too. Bible and spelling-book as civilizers helped 
each other, and tuition fees made a grateful though slight 
addition to the precarious and scanty income. In the 
early schemes to establish permanent institutions of learn- 
ing, there was, however, a different and stronger motive, 
the desire to obtain for the new West a competent, in- 
digenous ministry. 

1 In "The Schools of Indiana" a statement is made which requires modification. 
" The pioneer teachers," says the writer, "were generally adventurers from the East, 
or from England, Scotland, or Ireland, who sought temporary employment during 
winter while waiting for an opening for business." This may be largely true of the 
second generation of school-teachers whom Mr. Hobbs remembers. But there were 
others of a different sort, twenty or thirty years before them. It is believed that the 
best pioneer school work in Indiana was done by Presbyterian ministers, and that they 
were the literal pioneers in that work, with the sole exception of two or three Catholic 
missionaries like Father Rivet. Cf. "The Schools of Indiana," pp. 53, 54. 

228 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 229 

Of the oldest Indiana college, the State Institution at 
Bloomington, the origin is to be traced to national legisla- 
tion. But in its beginnings, the work, though unde- 
nominational, fell upon the Presbyterians. 1 The first in- 
structors were all Presbyterian ministers and the board of 
trustees was largely Presbyterian. This predominance, 
fairly won at first, naturally disappeared in time from an 
institution adopted and fostered by the state, and might 
probably with advantage have been yielded with less delay. 

In 1802 the national Congress had made a grant of a 
township of land in Gibson County for the support of an 
institution of learning, and encouraged by that act the 
territorial legislature in 1807 incorporated the Vincennes 
University. When in 1816 Indiana was admitted into the 
Union, Congress granted an additional township for college 
purposes, and under that act Perry township in Monroe 
County was designated. Thereupon, the Vincennes 
University being regarded as a lifeless scheme, the legis- 
lature in 1820 appointed the trustees of the Indiana 
Seminary, and the board having met in the following June 
at Bloomington, selected the site of the future university. 
Steps were taken toward the erection of a building, the 
contracts being let in March, 1822. Two years were 
consumed in the work, which was still incomplete when, 
in the spring of 1825, with about twenty students, Baynard 
R. Hall, who had come West for that service, opened the 
school. He had entire charge of the institution until 
May, 1827, when John H. Harney became associated with 
him, as professor of mathematics, natural philosophy, and 
astronomy. Early in 1828 the legislature chartered the 
school as a state college, and the Rev. Andrew Wylie, 
D.D., president of Washington College, Pennsylvania, 

1 On an ill-considered page an Indiana writer, describing the origin of the first 
schools, ventures to attribute to unworthy motives the natural prominence in the work 
of education of the few men on the field who were themselves educated. See " Indiana 
Methodism," p. 317. 



230 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTER! ANISM. 

was summoned to the head of it. There he remained 
until his death, November 11, 1851, for twenty-three years 
successfully conducting its affairs through many perils and 
conflicts. 1 The school was greatly embarrassed by its 
poverty. By and by serious disagreements arose in the 
faculty. The jealousies of the sects made trouble. In 
1854 nearly everything visible belonging to the college 
was destroyed by fire. And finally the Vincennes Univer- 
sity, supposed to have been long comfortable in its grave, 
successfully asserted before the courts its claims to the 
proceeds of the Gibson County lands, which had been 
expended at Bloomington. By the timely intervention of 
the legislature, the state, rather than the college, was 
made the sufferer, the judgment against it amounting to 
sixty-six thousand five hundred and eighty-five dollars. 
The institution was thereby rescued from what had looked 
like irretrievable disaster. In recent years a generous 
attitude toward its child has been maintained by the 
General Assembly, and the State University now honorably 
occupies the place it has bravely conquered for itself. 
With regard to its aims, its methods, and its success 
Indiana Presbyterians can never be indifferent, having 
borne so largely all the responsibilities of its early career. 

It was in the establishment of Hanover College, 
however, the oldest of the denominational schools, and 
only a little less ancient than the institution at Blooming- 
ton, that the earliest energies and affections of the church 
were directly engaged. The lack of Christian laborers 
was a daily burden upon the hearts of the faithful men 
who were toiling in these swamps and forests. 2 Few 
recruits could be expected from the older communities. 

1 See " Address on the Life and Character of Andrew Wylie, D.D.," by Theophilus 
Parvin, M.D., Indianapolis, 1858. 

2 See Dr. Crowe's account of the origin of the college, Johnston's " Forty Years in 
Indiana," pp. 21, 22. Cf. Cressy's "Appeal in Behalf of the Indiana Theological 
Seminary," pp. 7, 9. 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 231 

Some who did venture away from the more luxurious con- 
ditions of society in the East were feeble and useless as 
frontiersmen. There must be a way devised to educate 
the Christian young men already on the ground. How 
could that object be secured ? The problem was a con- 
stant theme of lonely thought, and of long debate in 
Presbytery, by cabin back-logs and on horseback jour- 
neys, considered too with an intensity of feeling, a fixed- 
ness of purpose, and a solidity of judgment in every way 
remarkable. The names of the men most conspicuous in 
these negotiations are happily not forgotten. They were 
chiefly John Finley Crowe, John McElroy Dickey, and 
William W. Martin. Into their circle was fully admitted, 
upon his arrival in 1824, James H. Johnston, whose 
position at Madison, and as secretary of the Indiana 
Missionary Society, made him painfully familiar with all 
the necessities of the field. Dickey had carried the 
burden longest. Martin was already training ministers 
and ministers' wives in his own Livonia log house. 
Crowe, the pastor at Hanover, years before a successful 
teacher in Kentucky, a man of admirable discretion and 
persistence, was steadily pushed forward by providence 
until, laying down a few first bricks, he found that he had 
" builded better than he knew," and had become the 
founder of a college. 

No sooner had Salem Presbytery come together at the 
first meeting than they began to confer about the means of 
Christian education. 1 The theme so promptly introduced 
was never allowed to rest in Presbytery or Synod until 
provision had been made for a complete classical and pro- 
fessional training. At the meeting of Presbytery in the 
autumn of 1825 a committee was appointed to perfect a 
scheme for a Presbyterial academy and to determine its 
location. The committee's report at a subsequent meeting 

1 Cf. Chapter XII. 



232 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



favored the village of Hanover as the seat of the academy 
and a committee was designated to obtain a teacher. 
Already as a preparatory step a private school had been, 
opened at Hanover by a gentleman invited thither by Mr. 
Crowe. But the search for a permanent instructor proved 
unsuccessful, and finally, in 1826, the Presbytery 1 formally 
laid the whole work upon Mr. Crowe, requesting him to 
organize the academy and take charge of it until other 
arrangements should be made. Accordingly "in a log 
cabin on Dr. Crowe's grounds, near the Presbyterian 
Church, on the first of January, 1827, the school was 
organized with prayer." 2 Thus at last was planted in 
Indiana the germ of a Presbyterian college. 

The first pupil of the school, the Rev. William M. 
Cheever, has furnished an account of his earliest Hanover 
experiences : 

My father, 3 who was teaching school in Paris, Jennings County, 
Indiana, was prevailed upon by Rev. John Finley Crowe to 
remove in 1825 to South Hanover and open a school in the old 
stone meeting-house, which was to become in part a sort of feeder 
to the classical academy which Mr. Crowe intended to open at no 
distant day. Though a mere lad, I attended my father's school, 
studying under him the Latin grammar. Two years after, in 1827, 
when between eight and nine years of age, I started to Mr. 
Crowe's Classical Academy, which was opened in his old loom- 
house. I remember vividly that first day. It was quite an epoch 
in my life. Besides, my father, who was deeply interested in this 
"young school of the prophets," as he termed it, often afterward 
alluded to the events of that day and they became fixed in my 
memory. He used to tell me that I had this preeminence, if no 
other, "I was the first student on the ground the day when 
Dr. Crowe opened his academy." I have seen and heard a 

1 The first steps were taken by Saletn Presbytery, at the time the only Presbytery in 
the state. Upon the organization of the Synod in 1826 the academy was included in the 
territory of Madison Presbytery, which conducted its affairs until they were committed 
to the Synod. 

2 " Semi-Centennial Sketch," by George C. Heckman, D.D., pp. 4, 5. 

3 Joshua Cushman Cheever, a native of Vermont, a student, though not a graduate, at 
Brattleboro, a good classical scholar and lifelong teacher. 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 233 



-variety of statements as to those early days, none of them being 
absolutely correct. Indeed, I suppose it will be impossible now 
to reproduce all the facts as they actually transpired during the 
first few weeks. But this much is correct. On the first day there 
were but two students present, James Logan and I. He was 
several years my senior. I have seen the statement that the 
academy opened in the old loom-house with some half-dozen 
young men present the first day, among whom were Daniel and 
Samuel Lattimer, James Logan, David V. Smock, and young 
McNutt. But none of them were there on the morning of the 
opening save Logan. 1 He and I had the distinguished honor of 
being the pioneer students. 

For the academy thus established an act of incorporation 
was obtained from the legislature December 30, 1828. As 
there was now every promise of permanent success the 
Presbytery sought to transfer the school to the supervision 
•of the Synod, and at the fall meeting in 1829 a committee 
was appointed to effect that object. The committee ap- 
peared in Synod in October, and having reported the 
action of Presbytery it was approved by Synod and the 
academy was adopted as a Synodical school ' ' provided the 
trustees of the same will permit the Synod to establish 
a theological department and appoint the theological pro- 
fessors." 2 The condition named was willingly acceded to, 
the negotiations were at once completed, and the school 
became the Synod's property. 

Steady progress had from the first been made toward 

1 A little later (July 4, 1877), while suffering severely from the cancerous affection 
-which was soon to terminate his useful life, Mr. Cheever wrote as follows; " The real 
fact, as nearly as it will probably ever be ascertained in this world is — there were but 
two at the first recitation, three at the second, and several others dropped in that week, 
and more the week following. This is probably the order as to their coming : (1) 
Cheever, (2) Logan, (3) Smock, (4) McNutt, (5) Hanna, (6) Creswell, (7) Daniel Latti- 
mer, (8) Samuel Lattimer, (9) Tilford, (10) Graham, (11) Miller." Mr. Cheever adds : 
" Perhaps one reason why my memory of those early days ought to be better than that 
of others is that my father was Dr. Crowe's nearest neighbor and intimate friend. 
These matters were themes of constant conversation between Dr. Crowe and my father, 
in my presence. I call up with more ease the recollection of those days than I do the 
transactions after 1832, when I reentered and graduated." 

2 " Minutes Synod of Indiana," Vol. I., pp. ioi, 102. 



234 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the work and position of a college, and in 1833, the legis- 
lature having amended its charter, the Hanover Academy 
was in future to be known as Hanover College. Funds 
had been diligently collected, buildings had been erected, 
and the Rev. James Blythe, D.D., of Lexington, Ky., be- 
came the first president of the enlarged institution. Of the 
first board of trustees of the college the Rev. John 
M. Dickey was president, the Rev. James H. Johnston 
secretary, and the Hon. Williamson Dunn treasurer. 
From the first college catalogue it appears that there were 
already in attendance seven theological, sixty-three collegi- 
ate, and one hundred and thirteen preparatory students. 
Since that early day the college has shared with similar 
institutions a varied experience of prosperity and gloom, 
but now, with seventy years of history back of it, has in 
its faculty, its alumni, its endowments and traditions, a 
permanent foundation. 

The Indiana Theological Seminary was conspicu- 
ously a child of providence from the first. Reference has 
been made to the motive in which it originated, and so 
imperative did this motive become, as year after year the 
need of ministers increased, that desire advanced to what 
looks like desperation, and the audacity of the first efforts 
gives to this chapter of history the tone of romance. 
Throughout the church and on the floor of the General 
Assembly there were already most earnest discussions as to 
the feasibility of establishing a divinity school in the West. 
To these debates the little band of pioneers in Indiana 
listened with unflagging attention, and in the midst of the 
rivalry between Allegheny Town and Walnut Hills had 
sufficient assurance to propose as a better location Charles- 
town, in Clark County ! ' ' An overture was presented 
requesting Synod to consider what exertions ought to be 
made by this body to secure the location of the Western 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 235 



Theological Seminary at Charlestown in Indiana." 1 The 
next day after the presentation of this overture, in accord- 
ance with the report of an able committee to which' it had 
been referred, it was resolved : 

( 1 ) That Synod approve the resolution of the General Assem- 
bly to establish a Western Theological Seminary. (2) That if such 
seminary is ultimately to become a benefit to the rapidly increas- 
ing population west of the mountains, it ought to be at present 
located in a central situation without much regard to the amount 
of monies offered by the several places now proposed. (3) That 
Synod consider Allegheny Town as entirely too far east to be con- 
sidered even as a western town, and Charlestown as more central 
than Walnut Hills. (4) That Charlestown is a healthful situation 
and easy of access, and that the maintenance of students and the 
salaries of professors will be for many years very far less than 
at the other places, owing among other things to the comparative 
plainness of our manners. (5) That the seminary may and proba- 
bly ought to commence on a small scale, and be gradually 
enlarged, as the funds and the number of students increase. 
(6) Synod pledge themselves to use their highest efforts to aid the 
seminary, if located at Charlestown. (7) A committee should be 
appointed to address a communication to the General Assembly, 
stating the reasons which induce the Synod of Indiana to recom- 
mend Charlestown as a suitable site for the intended theological 
seminary, and that this committee be required to ascertain as far 
as practicable, by communicating with other Synods, and by any 
other means they may see proper, how much interest may exist in 
favor of Charlestown, and how large an amount of money may 
probably be raised for that place, which also shall be stated to the 
General Assembly. 2 

The committee suggested by the last resolution was ap- 
pointed — Messrs. Dickey, Hamilton, and Bush, strong 
and true men all of them. But at this interval it will 
occasion no surprise that their faith was disappointed, and 
that Bush, describing the Assembly of 1827 and the 
triumph of Allegheny Town, confessed that he ' ' did not 

1 " Minutes Synod of Indiana," Vol. I., p. 13. 

2 " Minutes Synod of Indiana," Vol. I., pp. 21-3. 



236 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



plead hard for Charlestown, which could have stood no 
chance against the formidable bids of the other two sites. ' ' 1 
To Crowe, Dickey, and Johnston and their associates 
this first " Waterloo defeat," however, only furnished new 
enthusiasm and better discipline. Promptly turning from 
the more ambitious design to their own smaller resources, 
in October, 1827, it was resolved "that a committee of 
three members of Synod be appointed to consider the ex- 
pediency of taking preparatory steps for the establishment 
of a literary and theological seminary, under the care 
of Synod ; and, should such a course be by them thought 
expedient, that they be authorized to draw up a plan 
of such seminary and report on the subject at the next 
stated meeting of Synod." 2 This committee 3 made report 
at the subsequent meeting in 1828, when, " after some dis- 
cussion ' ' the further consideration of it was indefinitely 
postponed 1 ' excepting the item concerning a theological 
seminary," which was postponed for another year. 4 At 
Shoal Creek church, Bond County, 111., October 16, 1829, 

the order of the day, namely, the report respecting a theological 
seminary, was taken up and the following resolution was adopted, 
viz. : 

Whereas, Hanover Academy has been incorporated by an act 
of the legislature of the State of Indiana, according to which act 
the Board of Trustees of said Academy are permitted, by special 
provision, to place it under the care of any body of learned men 
that they may select ; and 

Whereas, the board, at a late meeting, appointed a committee 
of their body to make a tender of the institution to the Synod of 
Indiana, that said Synod might avail themselves of the corporate 
privileges granted, in founding a theological seminary, in con- 
nection with the Academy, therefore, 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed, on the part of the 

1 Cf. biographical notice of Bush. 

2 " Minutes Synod of Indiana," Vol. I., p. 53. 

3 The committee were Messrs. Dickey, Crowe, and Johnston. 

4 " Minutes Synod of Indiana," Vol. I., p. 62. 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 237 



Synod, to confer with the committee of the Trustees of the 
Academy, and to report on the subject as soon as may be practi- 
cable. 1 

The day following the committee reported 

that they have conferred with said committee, and have examined 
the charter of said Academy and inquired into its present pros- 
pects, and they believe that the interests of the churches within 
our bounds would be promoted by taking said Academy under 
the care of this Synod. They therefore recommend the adoption 
of the following resolutions, viz.: (1) That this Synod adopt 
said Academy as a Synodical school, provided the trustees of the 
same will permit the Synod to establish a theological department 
and appoint the theological professors. . . . (3) That this 
Synod appoint a Board of Directors, to superintend the theologi- 
cal department of Hanover Academy. (4) That the Synod at 
this time appoint a theological professor. (5) That the Synod 
appoint a committee to prepare a plan of union, to be agreed 
upon by the trustees of the Academy and the Synod of Indiana, 
and also a plan for the regulation of the theological department. 2 

The sagacious and prudent men who had had this 
business in charge did not venture thus far without consid- 
ering whether for the proposed chair of theology a 
competent scholar could be obtained. With the Rev. Dr. 
John Matthews an informal correspondence had been 
opened, as to the possibility of his coming to Hanover if 
an invitation should be extended to him. The following 
reply was addressed to the " Rev. Messrs. J. F. Crow and 
J. H. Johnston" : 

Shepherdstown, Va., September 23, 1829. 
Your joint letter of the 10th inst. was duly received and its 
suggestions have been the subject of serious consideration.. I 
suppose that consideration is all that can be expected from me, in 
the present stage of the business to which you refer. Materials 
which would justify a decision, one way or the other, are not yet 

l "Minutes Synod of Indiana," Vol. I., pp. 93, 94. 

2" Minutes Synod of Indiana," Vol. I. pp. 101-3. As the committee here required 
Messrs. Moreland, Martin, Dickey, Cobb, and Johnston were named. 



238 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



furnished, nor is it in your power to furnish them, as they would 
be derived from events yet future, and over which your ageney 
may have but a limited influence. I wish to feel, as every minis- 
ter of the gospel ought to feel, devoted to the great Head of the 
church. This, of course, implies a willingness to labour wherever 
he may, in his providence, call me. Altho my labours have not 
been blessed of late years with the same numbers added to the 
church as formerly, yet I must consider it my duty to remain and 
labour here, till a call from some other quarter shall reach me. If 
this call should come, it will then be the subject of consideration 
with a view to a decision. If the claims of this call are stronger 
than those arising out of my present location, they will prevail. 
One thing indispensably necessary would be, the prospect of use- 
fulness ; — another would be, a support for my family. I have not 
for twenty years past attended to anything but the duties of the 
ministry, have received at no time more than a bare support, and 
that with the greatest economy. A support is all I expect. My 
family consists of myself and wife ; one daughter grown ; four 
little boys, the oldest ten ; and two sons at the Seminary at 
Princeton, all dependent on my salary ; with one or two servants. 
I am not competent to judge what would answer this purpose in 
your state, not being acquainted with the expenses of living there. 
You will see therefore that from the nature of the case I cannot 
give a decisive answer to your proposition, and must of course 
leave you, and all who may feel interested in the case, to be 
influenced by your own views of expediency respecting the inter- 
ests of your institution, and of the church in your growing state. 
If inclination alone was to guide me, if about to remove from this 
region, my views would turn to the West, not on my own 
individual account so much as on account of my sons, whom I 
must leave before many years, and leave, too, dependent on their 
own efforts to gain a subsistence in life. I shall have nothing to 
leave them that would exempt them from these efforts. An 
education is all that I can furnish myself the pleasure of giving 
them. I feel a very deep interest in the progress of religion and 
literature in your state, and indeed in all the western country. It 
is all important that there should be both Theological and Literary 
Institutions of reputable character to exert a favourable influence 
on the growing population of that section of our country. I shall 
be pleased to hear from you when you may find it convenient. 

This communication gave such encouragement that the 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 239 



business proceeded without embarrassment in the Synod, 
and Dr. Matthews was named unanimously for the profes- 
sorship. 1 The Virginia pastor accepted the call to Indiana 
and at once began to devote himself to the interests of the 
divinity school. He wrote from New York, March 15, 
1830, to Mr. Johnston, as follows : 

You will no doubt be surprised to receive a letter from me, 
dated in this city ; but so it is. I am here as an agent for the Han- 
over Theological Seminary. My object is to secure, if possible, a 
moderate salary for a Tutor or Professor of Biblical Literature in 
the seminary. This proceeds from an earnest desire that the 
seminary should not commence without an assistant in this depart- 
ment. I have supposed that if it was known that there was such a 
teacher in the seminary it would give it more importance, and 
give a pledge that young men could receive a full course of study 
for the ministry. 

The plan proposed is this : to raise five hundred dollars for five , 
years, and I now hope this object will be accomplished. I have 
already obtained thirteen subscriptions of $25 each for five years. 
I am encouraged to believe that seven, perhaps ten, more can 
be obtained. The clergymen of this city, to whom I have men- 
tioned the plan, cordially approve of it, and Dr. Spring is one of. 
the subscribers. If the plan succeeds I shall be much rejoiced. 
Nor can I suppose that the Synod of Indiana, or any friend of the 
Seminary will object to it. In addition to the annual subscriptions 
I will receive some donations, and some books ; but to what 
amount is yet uncertain. I expect to spend a few days in Phila- 
delphia and in Baltimore in the same agency. I find I am a poor 
agent ; but my desire to secure this Assistant induces me to make 
the effort. A young man can be obtained from Princeton or 
elsewhere, qualified for this department. I have supposed that 
the seminary would not commence till next fall, probably after the 
meeting of your Synod. The subscriptions obtained here are 
payable in April in each year, and the first payment to be in 1831. 
This is the time proposed by the subscribers themselves ; and I 
suppose it will answer the purpose, as the subscription may be 
relied on. 

Your letter was received shortly before I left home, which was 
on the 1 st inst. Numerous engagements prevented me from 

1 Cf. " Minutes Indiana Synod," Vol. I., pp. 108, 109. 



24O EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



writing to you before I set out, and besides, I did not know but 
my agency would be an entire failure. We expect to remove 
some time in the month of May, but whether in the early or latter 
part is yet uncertain. We must accomplish the journey, if possi- 
ble, before the season for steamboat navigation is over. I expect 
to find a letter from you when I return home, and will then write 
to you again, and give you the result of my agency, and if possible 
fix the time when we may be expected in Indiana. 

The professors at Princeton gave me their cordial approbation 
of the seminary and of the object of my agency, in writing ; so also 
did some of the clergy of Philadelphia. Upon the whole I hope 
the great Head of the church will bless the Hanover Seminary, 
and I hope its friends will not cease to pray for its prosperity and 
usefulness. 

Still another letter to Mr. Johnston, written from Shep- 
herdstown, April 13, 1830, indicates, as does the entire 
history, how insignificant were the resources, and how 
bold and enterprising the faith, by which these projects 
were advanced : 

I hope you received my letter from New York, giving an 
account of the agency I had undertaken for the Hanover Theo- 
logical Seminary. The result of that agency has been that $500 
annually for five years has been secured, the first payment to be 
in April, 1831. This is for the special purpose of securing the 
assistance of a teacher of Biblical Literature in the seminary, and 
this it is believed will be sufficient for this purpose. In Philadel- 
phia $80 has been, and probably $100 will be secured annually for 
five years, the first payment in May, 1830. Eighty dollars of this 
I have received. With this $80, and other donations, after 
deducting my expenses, there is now in my hands $130 for the 
seminary. The number of volumes I obtained will probably be 
about thirty, some of them valuable. . . . We expect to com- 
mence our removal early in May — the day is not yet fixed, and 
will reach Madison, with the favour of God, some time from the 
15th to the 20th of the month. 1 

Meanwhile the committee designated for the purpose 

1 These manuscripts of Dr. Matthews all painfully indicate how serious an affliction 
must have been that "trembling in his hands," referred to by Dr. Woods. Cf. 
Sprague's " Annals," Vol. IV., p. 294. 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 241 



was perfecting a plan for uniting the divinity school with 
the Hanover Academy, and in 1830 the Synod adopted 
their report. In accordance with this compact the trustees 
gave to the Synod the supervision of the academy, upon 
condition "that the Theological Seminary about to be 
erected by the Synod of Indiana shall be located at 
Hanover Academy, or its immediate vicinity, in Jefferson 
County, . . . the seminary being considered the theological 
department of said academy." The Synod was to have 
the whole control of the theological department, appoint- 
ing its directors, choosing the professors, governing the 
pupils, and managing the funds. The negotiations were 
completed by the selection of the following gentlemen to 
constitute the first board of directors of the seminary : 
Ministers, J. F. Crow, J. R. Moreland, William W. 
Martin, A. Wylie, L. Cobb, James Thomson, B. C. Cressy, 
Samuel Gregg, William Sickels, S. R. Alexander, 
Alexander Williamson, S. G. Lowry, J. M. Dickey, J. H. 
Johnston, C. Butler ; Elders, Samuel Smock, Jeremiah 
Sullivan, Victor King, Alexander Walker, Samuel S. 
Graham, Williamson Dunn, Andrew Wier, Joseph Hart, 
James H. Thomson, W. B. Laughlin, John Hendricks, 
James M. Ray, Ebenezer Sharpe, James Scott, and Dr. B. 
Bradley. A teacher of oriental and biblical literature was 
at the same time chosen, John W. Cunningham having no 
competitor. It was understood that he should be permit- 
ted, upon his acceptance of the place, to spend six months 
in further study at Andover. It was also resolved ' ' that 
the salary of the professor of theology be for the present 
fixed at six hundred dollars per annum, and that it com- 
mence on the first day of May, 1830." 

The inauguration of Dr. Matthews as professor of theol- 
ogy occurred June 29, 1831, when he delivered a thought- 
ful address upon " Ministerial Qualifications." 1 

1 This discourse, together with the Rev. B. C. Cressy's address on the same occa- 
sion, was printed by Arion & Lodge, Madison, 1831. 



242 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Financial questions of course at once began to assume a 
commanding prominence. Even upon the modest scale of 
prices suggested by the chief professor's salary more 
money was required than the woods of Indiana could pro- 
vide. An agent was accordingly appointed to solicit aid in 
the older states — the Rev. Benjamin C. Cressy, a man 
of scholarship and discretion. At Boston, December, 
1832, he printed an appeal for the seminary. He said : 

The prosperity of this institution has thus far exceeded the most 
sanguine anticipations of its founders, and for this very reason 
now labors under the most serious embarrassment. Enlarged 
accommodations are immediately needed ; but to go forward with- 
out the prospect of assistance will be presumption, to go back will 
blast the hopes of thousands. Under these circumstances we 
appeal to the friends of learning and religion to aid us. Our funds 
are exhausted, our instructors are to be supported, our library 
is small, applications for the reception of students are constantly 
increasing, and yet we have more already than we have room 
to accommodate. For the want of better accommodations many 
of our students have been under the necessity of occupying 
contracted log-cabins. In the midst of difficulties, with a spirit of 
tireless perseverance and great personal sacrifices, the professors 
"have labored and have not fainted." The friends of the institu- 
tion in the vicinity have been liberal, and are ready to do all 
in their power, but the necessary aid cannot there be obtained. 
And what shall be done ? . . . We believe that He, whose is 
the silver and the gold, will incline the friends of learning and 
religion to aid us in sustaining this enterprise. 1 

The anticipations of adequate financial support were not 
realized. At the Synod in 1831 a subscription paper was 
circulated, once and again. In 1832 there is mention 
of one agent at the East, and of another ' ' to enter on his 
agency shortly," still another being under appointment to 
visit the churches at home. There is allusion in 1833 to 
the "arrears in which the seminary is now involved." It 

1 "An Appeal in Behalf of the Indiana Theological Seminary Located at South Han- 
over, Indiana." Boston, 1832. 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 243 



is attempted in 1834 to unite with Indiana the Synods of 
Illinois, Kentucky, Cincinnati, and Ohio in the care of the 
seminary. The following year Dr. Crowe explains a plan 
to raise twelve thousand dollars in Indiana. Similar labo- 
rious methods are perseveringly prosecuted, including as- 
sessments upon the Presbyteries and congregations — the 
difficulties largely increased by the controversies of 1838, 
until in 1840 the "proposition of Mr. E. Ayres for a 
change in the plan of the seminary ' ' was adopted, and the 
institution was transferred to New Albany. 

In the new location it was still a burden upon the poverty 
of this new region ; but when there was little money there was 
more faith, and the self-denying work of professors and di- 
rectors was rewarded by its undoubted utility. The ability 
of the faculty was conspicuous and the spirit with which they 
imbued the students is blessing the church to-day. For 
nearly twenty years the school held on, always hindered 
by insufficient financial resources, until in 1859, amidst 
the commotions preceding the War of the Rebellion, it 
was committed to the General Assembly and by that body 
established in the city of Chicago, as the Seminary of the 
Northwest, later to be known as McCormick Seminary. 1 

John Matthews, who received the first appointment to 

1 The Assembly of 1859 (Old School) held its sessions at Indianapolis. On Monday 
afternoon, May 23, the order of the day was taken up — "the report of the Standing 
Committee on Theological Seminaries upon the papers connected with the transfer of 
the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest. The whole report of the 
committee was read, as also were proposals, from different localities, of gifts of money 
and land toward the endowment of this institution, and the following resolutions were 
adopted unanimously, viz.: 

" 1. Resolved, That in accordance with the overtures, emanating from eight Synods, 
this Assembly does now accept the direction and control of the seminary known by the 
corporate name and style of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest. 

" 2. Resolved, That this Assembly during its present sessions will decide by a majority 
of the votes of its members, what place within the limits of these eight Synods be 
selected as the seat of said Seminary." — " Minutes Assembly of 1859," pp. 516, 517. 

The debates affecting the seminary were protracted and noteworthy. Besides the 
problem as to location were most interesting personal matters, while the jealousy be- 
tween North and South, everywhere apparent at this period, added to the heat. 



244 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



the chair of theology in the seminary, was born in Guilford 
County, N. C, January 19, 1772. His father, who in 
early life had emigrated from Ireland, was a small farmer. 
The son, having until he was twenty years of age wrought 
at various mechanical employments, then began a course 
of study under the Rev. Dr. David Caldwell, in whose 
family he for a time resided. He received licensure, 
March, 1801, from the Presbytery of Orange, and a few 
months later went as a missionary to Natchez, Miss. Re- 
turning in 1803 to North Carolina he became pastor of the 
Nutbush and Grassy Creek churches. Three years later, 
resigning this charge, he was installed over the church in 
Martinsburg, Va. , but soon afterward received an urgent 
call to the pulpit at Shepherdstown, Va. , made vacant by 
the transfer of Dr. Hoge to the presidency of Hampden 
Sidney College. This church he continued to serve until 
his removal to Indiana, a period of twenty-four years. 
During portions of this time he also served the Charles- 
town and Martinsburg churches, preaching frequently 
besides at Harper's Ferry. In connection with the semi- 
nary he resided at Hanover, and at New Albany, until his 
death, May 19, 1848. 

Dr. Matthews was twice married — December 8, 1803, to 
Elizabeth, daughter of John Daniel, of Charlotte County, 
Va. ; and in April, 18 18, to Elizabeth, daughter of James 
Wilson of Berkley County, Va. Of his six sons three 
became clergymen of the Presbyterian Church. 

Besides a large number of sermons and addresses, and 
articles in literary and theological journals, Dr. Matthews 
was the author of two more extended treatises entitled, 
" Letters on the Divine Purpose " and "The Influence of 
the Bible." 1 

1 See Sprague's " Annals," Vol. IV., pp. 292-4. Letters from the Rev. Drs. James 
Wood, James M. Brown, Samuel B. Wilson, and William C. Matthews are appended to 
Sprague's biographical sketch. 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 245 

Born in revolutionary times Dr. Matthews was the contemporary 
and friend of a body of ministers, including Drs. Alexander, 
Spence, Waugh, Moses Hoge, John H. Rice, and others, whose 
solid, scriptural, spiritual theology constituted them almost a 
distinct school of divines. Dr. Matthews was the peer of any in 
that honored group ; and it is scarcely extravagant to say that had 
he and Dr. Archibald Alexander exchanged places, the history of 
the church had not been materially different. The great charac- 
teristic of his mind was simplicity. He defined everything to its 
ultimate elements. He traced everything through all its history 
to its remotest possible and logical uses. His mind seemed to be 
a case of pigeon-holes, where every thought seemed to lie by 
itself, wrapped in its own proper word, which would rarely, if 
ever, be changed, and always ready for immediate use. His 
power of definition was inimitable, and gave him signal and 
speedy success in controversy. Whoever in debate with him 
failed to detect mistake or fallacy in definitions might as well 
concede the whole argument. His sole text-book as professor 
was the Confession of Faith, out of which he drew an extensive 
scheme of both didactics and polemics. His course was prefaced 
by lectures upon mental philosophy and logic, as bearing upon the 
ministerial office and work. His method was the Socratic, both 
for instruction and disputation. His observation had been care- 
ful, his experience varied, his thinking deliberate and thorough ; 
so that while never voluble he was always ready to enter at once 
upon any train of remark or discussion, and always with the right 
word for every place. His promptitude indeed resembled special 
preparation. 

Another conspicuous trait in the character of Dr. Matthews was 
his modesty. He shrank from no duty, but he sought no distinc- 
tion, no fame, and even avoided publicity. His was in eminent 
degree the power of godliness. The first, last, and deepest 
impression left upon his students, his friends, and his neighbors, 
was that he was a holy man, of deep and rare attainment in grace, 
of rich and ripened fruit of the indwelling spirit of Christ. 1 

Dr. Matthews was in person spare and tall. While in 
his last years the infirmities of age manifestly increased he 
was able to continue active labor to the close of life. 

1 Dr. J. Edwards's address in " Services of the Laying of the Corner-Stone and Ad- 
dresses at the Dedication of the Chapel and Library of the Presbyterian Theological 
Seminary of the Northwest." 24 pp. 



246 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERI ANISM. 

Only a week before his death he met his students as 
usual in the lecture room. Submitting, however, to a 
surgical operation the result was quickly fatal. 

Erasmus Darwin MacMaster, who succeeded Dr. 
Matthews in the chair of theology, was a man of pro- 
digious native force. His individuality of feature and 
form, of manner and mind, would have commanded atten- 
tion anywhere. His scholastic attainments were of a high 
order. Upon the arena of manly conflict his weapons 
were those of a giant, while in the domestic precinct and 
in the circles of friendship he had a child's simplicity and 
a woman's tenderness. 1 Of Scotch Covenanter blood, a 
son of the Rev. Gilbert MacMaster, long pastor of the 
Reformed Presbyterian Church, Princeton, Ind., he was 
born in the year 1806. He graduated from Union College. 
While pastor at Ballston Spa, N. Y., he attracted the 
notice of representatives of Hanover College, Indiana, 
who were attending a meeting of the Synod of New York 
in search of a president for their institution. The invita- 
tion which they extended to him was favorably received, 
and in 1838 he removed to the West. An agitation for 
the enlargement of the institution and its transfer to 
Madison, with a new charter, as Madison University, 
involved Dr. MacMaster with some of the earliest friends 
of Hanover who clung to the old place and the old patient 
methods. 2 In 1844 the transfer was effected ; but the 
lack of support enforced the abandonment of the enter- 
prise after one year of trial. Thereupon Dr. MacMaster 
was called to the presidency of Miami University and 
took up his residence at Oxford, Ohio. Upon the death 

1 An old friend recalls the gracious affectionateness with which he unfailingly 
greeted his sisters on retiring for the night and when he met them in the morning. 

2 See " Speech of Mr. MacMaster in the Synod of Indiana, October 4, 1844, in 
relation to Madison University," with postscript. Madison, Jones and Lodge, 1844. 

39 PP- 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 247 

of Dr. Matthews, however, the Indiana Seminary looked 
at once to him, and he came in 1849 to New Albany as 
teacher of divinity. Here he continued for ten years, and 
until the institution was established by the Assembly of 
1859 in Chicago. That Assembly was an animated one. 
For the last time, in full force and with undaunted 
courage, the South came to meet their brethren of the 
North. In that stormy period everything touched in 
some way the institution of slavery. 1 When it came to 
the choice of professors for the reorganized divinity school 
a man with the well-known progressive sentiments of Dr. 
MacMaster was sure to be thrust aside. Out of two 
hundred and seventy-seven votes he received but forty- 
five for the chair of didactic theology. Thereupon he 
went into retirement, watching silently the marvelous 
events of the Civil War, which brought so sudden and 
complete a vindication. 2 He saw the Presbyterians of the 
North all facing at last, and many of them facing about, 
toward his platform. He was no longer in the minority. 
At St. Louis in 1866 the General Assembly placed him in 
the chair for which he was so eminently fitted, and he went 
to Chicago as professor of theology. He had hardly 
entered upon his duties, however, when death overtook 
him. After ten days of suffering he expired, December 
10, 1866. His death was as remarkable as his life had 
been. During his illness his mind was constantly upon the 
Scriptures. He repeated passage after passage, and, it 
may be said, chapter after chapter, in the original Greek. 

1 See " Speech in the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, May 30, 1859, 
on the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest," by E. D. MacMaster. 
Cincinnati Gazette Co. 1859. With appendix. 40 pp. Also, "The Late General Assembly 
and the Theological Seminary of the Northwest," by "Alpha." 16 pp. The public 
press of the time teemed with communications from well-sharpened quills. 

2 Dr. MacMaster was a great admirer of Bacon, whose portrait adorned the wall of 
his study. Underneath the picture, in the doctor's " horrible chirography," was a 
sentence from Bacon, in which the philosopher declared his willingness to leave his 
•character to the judgment of posterity. 



248 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

He had the unshaken and exulting confidence of Paul. In 
the closing moment his eyes kindled to intense brilliancy, 
his hands were raised as if in surprise and adoration, and 
to his brother he said: "I see heaven opened and Jesus 
standing at the right hand of God." These were his last 
words. 1 

The Rev. Dr. Edward P. Humphrey, who, as a director 
of the seminary at New Albany, was brought into close 
official relations toward him, writes 2 as follows of the sub- 
ject of this sketch : 

Dr. MacMaster had an imposing personality. He was very 
tall, his hair was thick and white, his countenance open and full 
of expression, his eyes shining with thought and emotion. In his 
movements he was deliberate ; not graceful but dignified ; with a 
certain magisterial air. He was somewhat reserved, especially 
among strangers. I doubt whether his most intimate friends 
would venture to take undue liberty with him. And yet he was 
polite and affable, and never forgetful of even the minor courtesies 
of life ; always a model Christian gentleman. 

His father was an eminent and honored minister of his church — 
one of the branches of the kirk of Scotland wherein the Presby- 
terianism was intensified ; whose right to be rested on the 
assumption that it was the best representative in existence of the 
best type of the pure and unadulterated old faith. The mother 
was a person of marked clearness of spiritual vision and of great 
force of character, modified by womanly gentleness. The son 
closely resembled her in his best qualities. 

Dr. MacMaster was not what men call a popular preacher. 
Those who had often heard him preach expected from him, when 
they went to hear him again, a sermon full of weighty matter, the 
substance and the arguments and illustrations taken from the 
divine word, the whole arranged with the skill of an accomplished 
logician, the points made with prodigious clearness and force, 
rarely lighted up with a touch of poetry or fancy ; although, when 
the current of thought became very deep and rapid, imagery 

1 The " remarkable spiritual vision " here referred to is vividly remembered by the 
Rev. Dr. George L. Spining, who was a pupil of Dr. Mac Master's, and who witnessed 
the final scene. 

2 Louisville, Ky., March i, 1886. 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 249 



rsometimes came to the surface, clothed with Miltonic grandeur. 1 
The power of impassioned exhortation was not among his gifts. 
He set forth the matter and excellencies of the gospel offer lucidly 
and earnestly, and then left his hearers to the workings of the 
spirit of God upon their consciences. I do not remember to have 
seen him preach a written sermon, or use even brief notes. He 
had a copious vocabulary at his command and never faltered for a 
word. 

The great work of his life was done in teaching systematic 
theology in the New Albany Seminary. Few men have been 
:as thoroughly furnished for that great office by knowledge of 
the divine word, by thorough inward conviction of the agreement 
of the Presbyterian system of doctrine with that word, and by a 
gift of teaching every way admirable. His method was his own. 
The topic for the day had been previously announced; the students 
were expected to gather, from the Scriptures and from other 
sources, information as full as possible in regard to the doctrine in 
hand. Dr. MacMaster took the chair, with no table before him, 
no printed book or written memorandum in his hand. The 
students were seated in a semi-circle near by. They were called 
on, in their order, to answer questions proposed by the teacher — 
these questions so formed as to elicit the knowledge or the igno- 
rance of the pupil, his difficulties, and his mistakes, arising from 
confusion of thought or from imperfect definitions. The teacher, 
too, was ready to be interrogated. An animated conversation 
was likely to spring up, leading to inquiry and thought and 
private study. Such a mode of teaching would be a failure in the 
hands of some men ; but Dr. MacMaster was too full of resources 
to fail, too clear in his conceptions, too ready and patient in his 
dealing with the quick-witted and the plodding ; correcting the 
•over-complacent and encouraging the diffident. His pupils to this 
•day talk about the clearness of his spiritual and intellectual vision, 
his love of truth, his eagerness in its exposition and defense, 
his skill in detecting subtle and dangerous errors in religion, and 

1 Dr. MacMaster's public prayers must have had something of the character of the dis- 
courses here described by Dr. Humphrey. On a single occasion I had the pleasure of 
seeing and hearing Dr. MacMaster. A year before his death he was present at a union 
morning prayer-meeting of the two Synods (Old and New School) of southern Indiana, 
in the First Presbyterian Church, Madison. He was called upon to offer prayer. Even 
his name had been previously unknown to me ; but the thought and language and tone 
of the prayer at once enchained attention. It was a body of divinity — deliberate, system- 
atic, progressive, complete. Its intellectuality would have seemed out of place but for 
the masterful lighting up of Scripture which it embodied, together with a certain awful 
•worshipfulness. I judge that the prayer must have occupied the greater part of an hour. 



250 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



the exceptionable, stimulating effect of his mode of teaching.. 

When to all this we add testimony to his blameless Christian 
life, his unstained honor and integrity in the sight of all men, we 
have before us the image of an eminent servant of God. 

John W. Cunningham, the first professor of sacred 
rhetoric in the seminary, after a few years sought the more 
congenial work of the pastorate, continuing it until his 
death. 

George B. Bishop was Mr. Cunningham's successor. 
He was a fine scholar, an admirable teacher, and withal a 
fearless, pungent preacher. But coming to the professor- 
ship with health already impaired by study, his career was 
short. 

James Wood, another professor in this chair, was more 
than a professor. 

He was an unwearied and successful soliciting agent. He was 
the careful superintendent of the seminary's property. He kept 
the refectory. He gave or got assistance for every indigent or 
troubled student. He was a fair scholar, but was a better theo- 
logian and preacher than exegete. He had, too, that kindly tact, 
that Christian art of ' ' putting things ' ' which enabled him to bear 
his part in a heated controversy with calmness, firmness, and 
without bitterness. 

Thomas Ebenezer Thomas, Lewis W. Green^ 
William M. Scott, and Philip Lindsley are all well- 
known and honored names which belong to a later period 
of the seminary's history. 

Wabash College was established a little after the close 
of the era to which these sketches particularly refer. It 
would, however, be inappropriate to conclude a chapter 
relating to Presbyterian education in Indiana without some 
mention of an institution which has had so successful a 
career and now stands almost alone in the state as to the 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 25 1 



fulness of its endowments and the promise of future 
enlargement. 

This college owes its origin to the counsels and efforts of five 
home missionaries, who early selected the upper Wabash valley 
as their field of labor. One of the earliest to agitate this subject 
was Rev. James Thomson, who settled in Crawfordsville, Novem- 
ber, 1827, and others connected with Crawfordsville Presbytery, 
then embracing most of the country of the upper Wabash, who 
often spoke to each other of the importance of a timely effort to 
plant an institution of learning, under good religious influence, 
and after the model of those planted by the fathers in the older 
portions of the country. It was not, however, till the autumn of 
1832 that any definite measures were taken to carry the design 
into effect. The first meeting on this subject was held at the 
house of Rev. James Thomson, November 21, 1832. Present at 
this meeting were Rev. Messrs. James Thomson, James A. Carna- 
han, John S. Thomson, Edmund O. Hovey, and John M. Ellis, 
together with Messrs. John Gilliland, Hezekiah Robinson, and 
John McConnel. 

The deliberations of this meeting resulted in the unanimous 
resolution that efforts should be made without delay to establish 
at Crawfordsville an institution of learning in connection with 
manual labor. At that time there was no literary institution, 
either located or projected, in this state north of Bloomington. 
Some of the considerations that showed the importance of the 
measure determined upon at that meeting are stated in the 
following extract from a letter written afterward by one of the 
persons who shared in its deliberations : " Being at that time an 
agent of the American Education Society, I became acquainted 
with the painful destitution of educated ministers in Indiana, and 
I learned from the brethren that they had been urging the moral 
destitutions of the state on the attention of eastern churches and 
theological seminaries, imploring their aid in sending more 
laborers into the great field whitening for the harvest. And that 
for these four years of entreaty, only two additional ministers could 
be obtained. This was a most depressing demonstration that 
the East could not be relied on to furnish pastors for the teeming 
multitudes of this great state. At the same time it was found that 
there were some twelve or fifteen pious young men, of the best 
promise, in the churches of the Wabash country, who would study 
for the ministry could they but have the facilities of education. 



252 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



This seemed, in those circumstances, the clearest providential 
indication to found a college for the education of such young men. ' ' 
A committee, to act temporarily as trustees of the institution, 
was appointed at this meeting. A liberal subscription was 
obtained from the citizens of Crawfordsville, a tract of fifteen 
acres of land was donated by Hon. Williamson Dunn, upon which 
the trustees, having selected a site for the building in the forest, 
in the midst of nature's unbroken loneliness, consecrated this 
enterprise for the furtherance of virtue and knowledge among 
mankind, to God, and solemnly invoked upon it the divine 
blessing. 

Measures were shortly afterward adopted for the erection of a 
suitable building for the preparatory department of the institu- 
tion. The trustees appointed Mr. Caleb Mills, then a theological 
student at Andover, Mass., as the principal of the preparatory 
department and Teachers' Seminary, under whose instruction the 
institution, in this form, went into operation December 3, 1833, 
with twelve students, nine of whom were professed Christians. 

In January, 1834, application was made to the state legislature 
for a charter, which was granted, under the name of "Wabash 
Manual Labor College and Teachers' Seminary." One feature of 
this charter — that requiring the trustees to provide manual 
labor for the students — has, in a subsequent modification of it, 
been laid aside ; the other is retained, and deemed of prime 
importance. 

The enterprise thus commenced was prosecuted with unremit- 
ting zeal. By proper efforts at the West and at the East, funds 
were obtained ; as the number of students increased additional 
teachers were appointed ; regular college classes were formed ; a 
president for the institution — Rev. Elihu W. Baldwin, of New 
York — a man peculiarly fitted for the work to which he was called, 
was secured ; the erection of a large college edifice was entered 
upon, and, in the fall of 1838, was completed ; a library was 
collected and a philosophical apparatus commenced. Everything 
promised prosperity ; but reverses and trials were at hand. This 
edifice, just completed, was destroyed by fire, and library and 
apparatus were consumed with it, causing a loss of not less than 
$15,000. This loss occurring at a period of great commer- 
cial embarrassment, involved the necessity of procuring a loan 
of $8,000, in addition to all the funds that could be obtained 
by voluntary contribution. The debt thus incurred was a crushing 
incubus on the enterprise for eight years. In the mean time, a 



INDIANA PRESBYTERIANS AND EDUCATION. 253 



loss still more deeply felt was occasioned by the death of the 
beloved president of the college, which occurred October 15, 1840. 

But amid these discouragements, the friends of Wabash College 
yielded not to despondency. A successor to Dr. Baldwin, in 
every respect worthy of the position which had been made 
vacant by his death, was found in Rev. Charles White, D.D., who 
entered on the duties of president in the fall of 1841, and whose 
useful and efficient labors for the advancement of the institution 
were continued for a period of twenty years. The college was 
also relieved, at length, from the pressure of its pecuniary embar- 
rassments. Through the liberality of individuals, means were 
furnished, in 1846, for the liquidation of the debt that bore so 
heavily upon it. Important aid has been received also from the 
"Society for the Promotion of Collegiate and Theological Educa- 
tion at the West. " Liberal donations for founding professorships 
have recently been made. 1 

Under the administrations of the Rev. Dr. Joseph F. 
Tuttle, Dr. White's successor, and of the Rev. Dr. George 
S. Burroughs, now at the head of the institution, the 
advance has been continuous. 2 

1 Johnston's " Historical Discourse," pp. 23-6. 

2 See also Hovey's " Historical Sketch of Wabash College," Dr. Tuttle's baccalau- 
reate of 1876, and various similar sketches by Dr. Tuttle. 



APPENDIX. 



I. 

Missionary Agencies at Work in Indiana 
Previous to 1826. 

Transylvania Presbytery issued the first commission 
to a missionary to Indiana. This action was taken at 
Danville, April 14, 1803. (Cf. Chapter III.) 

In its care for the "regions beyond" the General 
Assembly was not much behind. An appointment was 
made in 1805 (see Assembly's minutes) for three months' 
missionary service "in the Indian (sic) Territory," etc. 
At its first meeting, May 21, 1789, the General Assembly 
had taken under consideration the work of missions, and 
each of the four synods was directed to name to the next 
Assembly two persons qualified to serve as missionaries on 
the frontier. The Presbyteries were instructed to make 
collections for the support of the missionaries. In May, 
1790, several appointments of missionaries wereraccord- 
ingly made, western New York and Pennsylvania being 
then on the extreme frontier line. Similar appointments 
were made by the successive Assemblies until 1802. At 
that time, the importance and extent of the enterprise 
having greatly increased, it was resolved "that a com- 
mittee be chosen annually by the General Assembly, to be 
denominated ' The Standing Committee of Missions ' ; that 
this committee shall consist of seven members, of whom 
four shall be clergymen and three laymen." To this 
committee were entrusted the appointment and oversight 

255 



256 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

of missionaries and the general management of missionary 
work during the recess of the Assembly. The committee 
continued its labors with great success until 18 16, when 
the Assembly organized 1 ' the Board of Missions acting 
under the authority of the General Assembly of the Pres- 
byterian Church in the United States." 

Of the voluntary organizations which sent early aid 
to the Indiana wilderness the Connecticut Missionary 
Society was perhaps the most prominent. The General 
Association of Connecticut is composed of delegates from 
each of the local associations in the state and seems to 
have held its first meeting at Hartford in 1709. Soon after 
the War of the Revolution great numbers of the people of 
Connecticut having emigrated westward, attention was 
directed to their religious wants, and in 1795 the associa- 
tion issued an address to the new settlements making 
known their purpose to send them ' ' settled ministers, well 
reputed in the churches, to preach among them the un- 
searchable riches of Christ, and as occasion might offer to 
gather and organize churches, to administer sealing ordi- 
nances, to instruct their young people, catechize their 
children, and perform all those ministerial duties which are 
usually practiced in the churches and congregations of 
Connecticut." Previous to this period, however, a few 
missionaries had been sent out, the first apparently in 
1788. Until 1798 the General Association conducted 
directly, during its annual sessions, its missionary enter- 
prises, as the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church for a time was accustomed to do. But at the 
meeting in June, 1798, the association organized itself into 
a missionary society, with a board of trustees empowered 
to conduct its business. The object of the society was ' ' to 
Christianize the heathen in North America and to support 
and promote Christian knowledge in the new settlements 



APPENDIX. 



257 



within the United States." This organization had from 
the first a most efficient management, and after more than 
twenty years of great activity formed an important nucleus 
of the later national society. 

During the early part of the present century, in New 
England and New York especially, a large number of 
state, district, county, and city mission societies were 
founded. Among these was the "Young Men's Mis- 
sionary Society" of New York City. It had been 
organized January 23, 1809, as the "Assistant New York 
Missionary Society," changing its name as above indicated 
in 18 16. This society became tributary to the "United 
Domestic Missionary Society" of New York, soon after 
the organization of the latter. 

The "United Domestic Missionary Society" of 
New York, a combination of a number of smaller societies 
of different religious denominations, was established in 
New York City in May, 1822. The fourth and last annual 
report of the society shows that during the year preceding 
they had aided 127 missionaries, four of whom were in 
Indiana. In connection with the meeting of the society 
May 12, 1826, a convention was held to consider the pro- 
priety of associating in a single organization the kindred 
missionary societies throughout the country, and it was 
finally resolved ' ' that the recommendation of the conven- 
tion be adopted, and that the United Domestic Missionary 
Society now become the American Home Missionary 
Society, under the constitution recommended by the 
convention." The convention was composed of repre- 
sentatives from the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, 
Alabama, and Arkansas. Its object was declared to be 



258 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



"to assist congregations that are unable to support the 
gospel ministry, and to send the gospel to the destitute 
within the United States." 

The Indiana Missionary Society was formed at a 
meeting of the friends of missions held at Livonia on 
the first Friday of August, 1822, according to a recom- 
mendation of Louisville Presbytery. The organization was 
tributary to the Assembly's Committee of Missions. Little 
was done the first year besides the establishment of a few 
auxiliary associations. During the second year ten weeks 
of missionary labor were accomplished. The third year 
the society had in its employ six missionaries resident 
within its bounds. Afterward its missionaries were found 
in every part of the state. At the annual meeting in 
August, 1826, the constitution was so amended as to make 
the society auxiliary to the American Home Missionary 
Society ; and the missionaries sent by the parent society to 
Indiana were located by the standing committee of the 
auxiliary. (See Dickey's "Brief History," pp. 18, 19.) 
Among the officers of the society were the Rev. Samuel 
T. Scott, president ; Dr. Isaac Coe, the Hon. James Scott, 
the Hon. William Hendricks, and General Homer Johns- 
ton, vice-presidents ; the Rev. William W. Martin, record- 
ing secretary ; and the Rev. Isaac Reed, corresponding 
secretary. The Rev. John M. Dickey was chairman of 
the standing committee. 



II. 

Ecclesiastical Relations of the Indiana Congre- 
gations Previous to 1826. 

1. Transylvania Presbytery, constituted May 17, 
1786, by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, had no 



APPENDIX. 



259 



definite northern limits, but exercised jurisdiction over the 
Indiana territory. 

2. With the consent of the Synod of Virginia Transyl- 
vania Presbytery was separated (March 27, 1799) into the 
three Presbyteries of Transylvania, West Lexington, and 
Washington. The last-named Presbytery comprised that 
part of Kentucky lying northeast of Main Licking and 
the settlement on the northwest side of the Ohio River. At 
this time, as also in 1802 when from these Presbyteries the 
Synod of Kentucky was constituted, there were no Presby- 
terian churches in Indiana, and this region was evidently 
not considered in defining the Presbyterial boundaries. 

3. Miami Presbytery was erected in 18 10 (from Wash- 
ington) and in 181 5 the General Assembly granted a 
petition of the Synod of Ohio (constituted in 18 14) to 
make the Ohio River the boundary between the Synods of 
Kentucky and Ohio. This action placed the Indiana 
churches within the limits of Miami Presbytery. In 181 1 
(October 15) the Presbytery of Muhlenburg was, how- 
ever, permitted to " extend its bounds so as to include 
Mr. Scott at Vincennes." 

4. In 1 8 17 the dividing line between the Synods of 
Kentucky and Ohio was changed by the Assembly so as 
to include within the bounds of the latter so much of the 
former Synod as lay within the state of Indiana, west of a 
line drawn due north from the mouth of Kentucky River. 
Most of the Indiana churches thus came under the juris- 
diction of Louisville Presbytery (formed from Transylvania 
in 1 8 14), a few preaching stations like Rising Sun and 
Lawrenceburgh, east of the line indicated, being still left 
within the boundaries of Miami. 

5. By an act of the Synod of Kentucky, October, 1823, 
all that part of Indiana previously within the limits of 
Louisville Presbytery was constituted into the new Presby- 
tery of Salem. 



26o EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

6. In October, 1824, that part of the state of Indiana 
which lies south and west of the following lines, viz. : 
beginning opposite the mouth of Green River, running 
due north twenty miles, thence northwestwardly to the 
mouth of White River, was attached to Muhlenburg 
Presbytery. At the same time that part of the state of 
Illinois belonging to the Synod of Kentucky which lies 
north of line due west from the mouth of White River 
was added to Salem Presbytery. 

7. By the Synod of Kentucky, October, 1825, two 
new Presbyteries were formed, Wabash on the west and 
Madison on the east, and with Salem and Missouri 
Presbyteries were constituted by the General Assembly, 
May 29, 1826, into the Synod of Indiana. 

III. 

Bibliography. 

Dickey, John M. : Brief History of the Presbyterian 
Church i7i the State of hidiana. Madison, printed by 
C. P. J. Arion, 1828. 

Reed, Isaac : The Christia?i Traveller, in five parts, in- 
cluding nine years and eightee7i thousand miles. New 
York, printed by J. and J. Harper, 82 Cliff St., 
1828. 

Hall, Baynard R. : The New Purchase • or, Seven and 
a Half Years hi the Far West. By Robert Carlton, 
Esq. 2 vols. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 200 
Broadway. Philadelphia, George S. Appleton, 148 
Chestnut St., 1843. Second edition, two volumes in 
one (with portrait). New Albany, Ind., John R. 
Nunemacher. Also third editio?i, revised by the 
author. 



APPENDIX. 



Bishop, Robert H. : A71 Outline History of the Pre sby- 
teriaii Church in Kentucky, containing the Memoirs of 
Rev. David Rice. Lexington, 1824. 

Humphrey, Edward P., and Cleland, Thomas H. : 
Memoirs of the Rev. Thomas Cleland, D. D. , compiled 
from his private papers. Cincinnati, Moore, Wil- 
stach, Keys & Co., printers, 25 West Fourth St., 
1859. 

Stowe, Harriet Beecher : Men of Our Times. Hart- 
ford Publishing Company, 1868. 

Baldridge, Samuel C. : Sketches of the Life and Times 
of the Rev. Stephen Bliss, A.M., with notices of his 
co-laborers. Cincinnati, Elm Street Printing Com- 
pany, 1870. 

McClung, John Alexander : Sketches of Western Ad- 
venture, containing an Account of the most inter estijig 
Incidents co?i?iected with the Settlement of the West, from 
1755 to 1794. Also additional Sketches of Adve?iture, 
and a Biography of f. A. McClung, by H. Waller. 
Covington, 1872. 

Morris, B. F. : Review of Ten Years' Service with the 
Main Street Presbyterian Church and Congregation of 
Rising Sun, India?ia, from April, 184.4., t° April, 
1854. Williamson & Doyle, printers. 8 pp. 

Post, M. M. : A Retrospect after Thirty Years' Ministry 
at Togansport, Indiana. Logansport, published by 
T. H. Bringhurst, i860. 24 pp. 

McCarer, W. H. : Remembrajice of Past Days. Evans- 
ville, Journal Company, i860. 26 pp. 

Johnston, James H. : A Ministry of Forty Years in In- 
diana. Indianapolis, Holloway, Douglass & Co., 
1865. 30 pp. 



262 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Bishop, John M. : Ed. Salem Presbytery Reporter, Vol. 
I., No. i. New Albany, April, 1850. 32 pp. 

Law, John: The Colonial History of Vi?icen?ies, under the 
Fre?ich, British and American Governments from its 
first Settlement down to the Territorial Administration 
of General IV. H. Harrison. Being an Address 
before the Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian 
Society, with Additional Notes and Illustrations. Vin- 
cennes, 1858. 

Williams, J. L. : Historical Sketch of the First Presby- 
terian Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana, with Early 
Reininiscences of the Place. A Lecture before the 
Congregation, March 7, i860. John W. Dawson, 
printer. 27 pp. The same revised, and read before 
the Congregation, October 16, 1881, the semi-centen- 
nial of its organization. Daily News Printing House. 
28 pp. 

Cleland, P. S. : A Quarter- Ceyitury Discourse, delivered 
at Greenwood, Indiana, December 18, 1864, at the 
Twenty-fifth Anniversary of his Ministry to the Pres- 
byterian Church in that place. Indianapolis, Hollo- 
way, Douglass & Co., printers, 1865. 31 pp. 

Hovey, Horace C. : The Origin and Growth of Presby- 
terianism in New Albany (printed in the New Albany 
Ledger, November 25, 1867). 

Banta, D. D. : Historical Address delivered in the First 
Presbyterian Church of Franklin, Indiana, November 
jo, 1874. 43 pp. 

Monfort, J. G. : Historical Sketch of the Presbyterian 
Church of Greensburg, Indiana. Cincinnati, Elm 
Street Printing Company, 1870. 32 pp. 

Monfort, J. G. : Presbyterianism North of the Ohio, an 
Historical Discourse delivered in the Second Presby- 



APPENDIX. 



263 



terian Church of Cincinnati April 9, 1872, being the 
Fiftieth Anniversary of the Presbytery of Cincinnati. 
Cincinnati, 1872. 12 pp. 

Edson, Hanford A. : The Church God's Building, an 
Historical Discourse delivered December 22, 1867, at 
the opening of the New Chapel of the Second Presby- 
terian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana. Indianapolis, 
Douglass & Conner, 1868. 18 pp. 

Greene, James : Semi- Centemiial Anniversary of the 
Establishment of Sunday-schools in Indianapolis, with 
Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the 
bidianapolis Sabbath-schools. April 6, 1873. 33 pp. 

Condit, Blackford : Historic Discourse delivered at the 
Quarter- Century Anniversary of the Second Presby- 
terian Church, Terre Haute, hidiana, December 27, 
1873. Cincinnati, 1874. 23 pp. 

Cheever, William M. : Anniversary Sermon delivered 
at the Quarter- Cenhiry Anniversary of the Second 
Presbyterian Church, Terre Haute, Indiana, Decem- 
ber 28, 1873. Cincinnati, 1874. 22 pp. 

Ranney, Joseph A. : History of the Presbyterian Church 
in Delphi, Carroll County, Indiana, being a discourse 
preached by the Pastor of the Church, November 28, 
1875. La Fayette, Ind. , 1875. 16 pp. 

Dickey, N. S. : History of the Presbyterian Church in 
Columbus, India?ia (printed in the Columbus Repub- 
lican, January 7, 1875). 

: The Sid?iey Centennial fubilee (containing 

memorials of the Johnston family), Ann Arbor, 1875. 

Hutchison, J. M. : The First Presbyterian Church of 
fejfersonville, Indiana, and its history (printed in 
the Louisville Courier- fournal, July 10, 1876). 



264 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Neal, Stephen, and Bishop, John M. : An Address con- 
taining the History of Boone County from its Organi- 
zation to the Present, delivered at Lebanon, Indiana, 
fitly 4, 1876 ; and a Sermon on the History a?id 
Growth of Presbyterianism in Boone County, Indiana, 
delivered in the Presbyterian Church at Lebanon, 
Indiana, fuly 2, 1876. Lebanon, Ind. , 1876. 16 pp. 

Simpson, W. H. : Historical Sermon, First Presbyterian 
Church, Madison, Indiana, preached fuly 16, 1876. 
Printed by Bert S. Ailing, Amateur Banner Office, 
Madison, Ind. 10 pp. 

Sluter, George : Our Beloved Church : Historical Re- 
view, First Presbyterian Church, Shelby ville, Indiana* 
Shelby ville, Ind., R. Spicer, printer, 1876. 27 pp. 

Sluter, George : History of Shelby County, Indiana, 
from 1822 to 1876, by a Committee of Citizens. Shel- 
byville, Ind., R. Spicer, printer, 1876. 40 pp. 

Post, E. H. : Forty -four Years hi the History of the 
Presbyterian Church of Danville, Indiana. A Cen- 
tennial Discourse, Sunday, June 4, 1876. Danville, 
Union Job Office, 1876. 12 pp. 

Hogue, A. A. : An Historical Discourse preached in the 
Presbyterian Church, Leb anon , Kentucky, 1857. 
Louisville, Hull & Brother, 1859. 16 pp. 

Tuttle, Joseph F. : Presbyterianism on the Frontiers r 
reprinted Jrom the Presbyterian Quarterly and Prince- 
ton Review, July, 1877. 25 pp. 

Bishop, John M. : Life in Indiana at Threescore. Leb- 
anon, 1879. 17 pp. 

Wishard, S. E. : Ed. History of the Half Century Cele- 
bration of the First Presbyterian Church, Franklin r 
Indiana. Cincinnati, 1874. 



APPENDIX. 



265 



Banta, D. D. : Making a Neighborhood, delivered at the 
Shiloh Reunion, May 26, 1887. Franklin, Ind. 49 
pp. 

Reed, Isaac : A Funeral Sermon, occasioned by the Early 
Death of Mr. John Young, Missionary to I?idia?ia and 
Illinois in the year 1825, with a Sketch of his Life and 
the Time and Circumstances of his Death. Indianap- 
olis, printed by Douglass & Maguire. 13 pp. 

Beecher, Henry Ward: The Means of Securing Good 
Rulers, a Sermo?i delivered on the occasion of the Death 
of Noah Noble, late Governor of Indiana. Indianapo- 
lis, printed by E. Chamberlain, 1844. 27 pp. 

Maxwell, George M. : A Discourse on the Death of 
Samuel Merrill, delivered at Indianapolis, August 25, 
1855, India?iapolis, printed by the Indianapolis Jour- 
nal Company, 1855. 17 pp. 

Parvin, Theophilus : Address on the Life a?id Character 
of Andrew Wylie, D.D., late president of the State 
University of Indiana, delivered before the Alumni of 
the University, July 14, 1858. Indianapolis, Cameron 
& M'Neely, 1858. 42 pp. 

Hopkins, T. M. : Reminiscences of Col. John Ketcham, of 
Monroe County, Indiana. Bloomington, Whitaker & 
Walker, 1866. 22 pp. 

-= : In Memoriam. Rev. fames Chute, first 

pastor of the First Presbyteria?i Church of Fort Wayne, 
India?ia. Printed for family use, 1874. 6 pp. 

Johnston, James H. : The Dead who Die in the Lord, 
Blessed. A Sermon preached in Centre Church, Craw- 
fordsville, Indiana, February 26, i8y 1, on the Death of 
Rev. Albert Barnes. Philadelphia, Wm. F. Murphy 
& Sons, 1874. 16 pp. 



266 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Tuttle, Joseph F. : Father Carnahan, of Dayton. A 
Discourse delivered at the Funeral of the Rev. fames 
Aikman Carnahan, at Dayton, Indiana, famiary 22, 
18 yg. Review Office, Crawfordsville, Ind. 12 pp. 

Schenck, William E. : A Memorial Sermon on the Life, 
Labours a?id Christian Character of Phineas D. 
Gurley, D.D. Washington, D. C. , William Ballan- 
tyne, 1869. 62 pp. 

Neill, Edward D. : Early Days of the Presbyterian 
Church in Mi?i?iesota ; the Substance of a Discourse 
delivered before the Synod of Minnesota, September 26, 
1873. xxvii. pp. 

Patterson, R. M. , and Davidson, Robert : Historical 
Sketch of the Synod of Philadelphia, and Biographical 
Sketches of Distinguished Members of the Synod of 
Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Presbyterian Board of 
Publication. 128 pp. 

Johnstone, R. A. : An Historical Sketch of the Presbytery 
of Transylvania, Kentucky. Louisville, printed by 
Bradley & Gilbert, 1876. 45 pp. 

Stewart, D. M. : Historical Discourse of Whitewater 
Presbytery, delivered at Lawrenceburgh, April 12, 
1876. Indianapolis, Baker, Schmidlap & Co., 1876. 
32 pp. 

Moore, Ambrose Y. : History of the Presbytery of 

Indianapolis. Indianapolis, J. G. Doughty, printer, 

1876. 132 pp. 
Bishop, John M. : Ed. Crawfordsville Presbytery. 

Numbers 1-11. Pp. 1-102. 
Whallon, E. P. : History of the Presbytery of Vincennes, 

Indianapolis, 1888. 52 pp. 
McNary, W. P. : A Memorial Sermon of Rev. John 

Mc Master, D.D. Albion, 111., 1876. 15 pp. 



APPENDIX. 



267 



Cressy, Benjamin C, and Matthews, John: A Dis- 
course on Ministerial Qualifications, delivered at 
Hanover, Indiana, June 29, 1831, together with an 
Address on occasion of the Inauguration of the latter as 
Professor of Didactic and Polemic Theology in the 
Indiana Theological Seminary. Madison, printed by 
Arion & Lodge, 1831. 30 pp. 

Cressy, B. C. : An Appeal in behalf of the Indiana Theo- 
logical Semi?iary, located at South Ha?wver, Indiana. 
Boston, printed by Peirce & Parker, No. 9 Cornhill, 
1832. 16 pp. 

MacMaster, E. D. : Speech of Mr. MacMaster in the 
Synod of Indiana, October 4, 1844, in relation to 
Madison University. Madison, Jones & Lodge, 1844. 
39 PP- 

Crowe, John Finley : A Review of Dr. MacMaster 's 
Speech before the Synod of Indiana, October 4, 1844. 
Madison, Jones & Lodge, 1845. 

: A Defence against the late Assaults upon the 

New Albany Theological Seminary. By the Trustees. 
New Albany, Ind., 1853. 35 pp. 

MacMaster, E. D. : Speech hi the General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian Church, May 30, 1859, on the Pres- 
byteria?i Theological Seminary of the Northwest. Cin- 
cinnati, Gazette Company, 1859. 39 pp. 

: The Late General Asse?nbly and the Theo- 
logical Seminary of the Northwest. By ' ' Alpha. ' ' 
1859. 16 pp. 

Edwards, J. : Services of the Laying of the Cor?ier-Stone 
and Addresses at the Dedicatio?i of the Chapel a?id 
Library of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of 
the Northwest (including Historical Review'). Birney, 
Hand & Co., Chicago. 24 pp. 



268 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



: Charter of Hanover College, Hanover, 

Ind. 4 pp. 

Heckman, George C. : Log College of the West: Hano- 
ver College, or Early Christian Education by the 
Presbyterian Church in Lidiana. A Semi- Centennial 
Sketch. Courier Print, Madison, Ind. 12 pp. 

Tuttle, Joseph F. : The Origin and Growth of Wabash 
College. Logansport, Ind., 1876. 21 pp. 

Tuttle, Joseph F. : Proceedings at the Quarter- Century 
A?niiversary of the Society for the Promotion of 
Collegiate and Theological EducatioJi at the West, 
held at Marietta, Ohio, Nov. 7-10, 1868. With an 
appendix. (Including address : What has Wabash 
College Done f) New York, The Iron & Smith Book 
Manufacturing Company, 1868. 182 pp. 

Wylie, Andrew : Sermon on the Subject of the Union of 
Christians for the Conversion of the World. Delivered 
Madison, Lid., April 20, 1834.. Printed by J. 
Lodge and E. Patrick, Madison, 1834. 17 pp. 

Smart, James H. : Ed. The Indiana Schools and the Men 
who have Worked in Them. Cincinnati, 1876. 

Woodburn, James Albert : Higher Education in In- 
diana. Washington, Government Printing Office, 
1891. 

Spalding, M. J.: Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions 
of Kentucky, from their commencement in ij8j to 
1826-j. Louisville, 1844. 

Evans, Madison : Biographical Sketches of the Pioneer 
Preachers of Indiana. With portraits. J. Challen & 
Sons, Philadelphia, 1862. 

Goode, W. H. : Outposts of Zio?i. Cincinnati, 1864. 



APPENDIX. 



269 



Hibben, W. W. : Rev. James Havens, one of the Heroes 
of Indiana Methodism. Indianapolis, 1872. 

Holliday, F. C. : Indiana Methodism. Cincinnati, 1873. 
Darby, W. J., and Jenkins, J. E. : Eds. Cumberland 

Presbyteriaiiism in Southern India?ia. Indianapolis, 

1876. 

Smith, J. C. : Reminiscences of Early Methodism in In- 
diana. Including sketches of various prominent min- 
isters together with narratives of wome?i eminent for 
piety, poetry, and song. Also descriptions of remark- 
able camp -meetings, revivals, incide?its a?id other mis- 
cellany. With an appe?idix contai?ii?ig essays on 
various theological subjects of practical interest. In- 
dianapolis, 1879. 

Slaughter, P., Dashiell, T. G., and Others : Ad- 
dresses and Historical Papers before the Centennial 
Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
Diocese of Virginia at its meeting in St. Paul's and 
St. John! s Churches in Richmojid, May 20-24., 1885. 
New York, Thomas Whittaker. 

Sprague, Wm. B. : Annals of the American Pulpit. 
New York, 1865-73. 

Foote, William Henry : Sketches of North Carolina, 
historical and biographical. New York, 1846. 

Wheeler, John H. : Historical Sketches of North Caro- 
lina from 1584 to 1851. Compiled fro?n origi?ial 
records, official documents, and traditional statements, 
with biographical sketches of her distinguished states- 
men, jurists, lawyers, soldiers, divines, etc. Phila- 
delphia, 1 85 1. 

Foote, William Henry : Sketches of Virgi?iia, his- 
torical a?id biographical. Philadelphia, 1850. Ditto, 
second series, Philadelphia, 1855. 



270 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Davidson, Robert : History of the Presbyteria?i Church 
in the State of Kentucky, with a Prelimi7iary Sketch 
of the Churches in the Valley of Virginia. New 
York, Robert Carter, 1847. 

Patterson, Robert W. : Early Society in Southern 
Illinois. Address before Chicago Historical Society, 
October 19, 1880. Fergus's Historical Publications, 
1 881. Illinois Local History, Vol. VI. 

Norton, A. T. : History of the Presbyterian Church in 
the State of Illinois. Vol. I. 735 pp. St. Louis, 
W. S. Bryan, 1879. 

Patton, Jacob Harris : The Triumph of the Presbytery of 
Hanover; or, Separation of Church and State in Vir- 
ginia. New York, A. D. F. Randolph, 1888. 

Meade, W. : Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of 
Virginia. Philadelphia, 1857. 

Nevin, Alfred : Churches of the Valley. 

Smith, Joseph : Old Redsto7ie, or Historical Sketches of 
Western Presbyterianism, its Early Ministers, its Pei'ilous 
Times, and its First Records. Philadelphia, 1854. 

Hotchkin, James H. : A History of the Purchase and 
Settlement of Western New York and of the Pise, 
Progress, and Present State of the Presbyterian Church in 
that Section. New York, M. W. Dodd, 1848. 

Wilson : Historical Almanac. 

: Index Volume of Princeton Review. 

Nevin, Alfred : Encyclopcedia of the Presbyterian Church 
in the United States of A??ierica. Philadelphia, 1884. 

Hodge, Charles: The Constitutional History of the Presby- 
terian Church in the United States of America. Phila- 
delphia, Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1S51. 



APPENDIX. 



271 



Webster, Richard : History of the Presbyterian Church in 
America from its origin until the year 1760, with 
Biographical Sketches of its Early Ministers. Philadel- 
phia, 1857. 

Gillett, E. H. : History of the Presbyterian Church in the 
United States of America. 2 vols. Philadelphia 
Presbyterian Publication Committee, 1864. 

Briggs, C. A. : American Presbyterianism, its Origin and 
Early History. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons* 
1885. 

Smith, Henry B. : The Reformed Churches of Europe 
and America 171 Relation to General Church History. 
Aji Address delivered before the General Assembly 
May 21, 1855. Philadelphia, printed by Henry B. 
Ashmead. 36 pp. 

Green, Ashbel : History of Presbyterian Missio?is. 1822. 

Smith, James : History of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. 

McDonnold, B. W. : History of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church. 679 pp. Nashville, 1888. 

Gallagher, James : The Western Sketch-Book. Boston, 
1850. 

Alexander, Archibald : Biographical Sketches of the 
Founder and Pri?icipal Alumni of the Log College. 
Philadelphia, 1851. 

Cleland, Thomas : The Ke?itucky Revival. (Article in 
Princeton Review, Vol. VI.) 

Alexander, Archibald: Review of Davids ori ' s History. 
(Articles in Princeton Review, 1847, pp. 141 and 470.) 

Hall, John : History of the First Presbyterian Church, 
Trenton ) New fersey. 



\ 



272 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

McGready, James: Narrative prefixed to Posthu?nous 
Works. 

Alexander, James W. : Memoir of Archibald Alexander. 

Alexander, James W. : Memoir of fames Waddel. 

Miller, Samuel: Life of fohn Rodgers. Philadelphia, 
Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1840. 

.Spring, Gardiner: Life of Samuel f. Mills. 

Hatfield, Edwin F. : A Memoir ofElisha Baldwin, D.D., 
First President of Wabash College. New York, 1843. 

SCHERMERHORN, JOHN F. , AND MlLLS, SAMUEL J. : Com- 

mimications Relative to the Progress of Bible Societies 
in the United States addressed to the Bible Society of 
Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 1813. 

SCHERMERHORN, JOHN F. , AND MlLLS, SAMUEL J.: A 

Correct View of that part of the United States which 
lies West of the Alleghany Mountains with regard to 
Religion and Morals. Hartford, Conn., 1814. 52 
pp. 

Mills, Samuel J., and Smith, Daniel: Report of a 
Missionary Tour through that part of the United 
States which lies West of the Alleghany Mountains 
performed under the direction of the Massachusetts 
Missionary Society. Andover, 18 15. 

Morse, Jedediah : Report to the Secretary of War of the 
United States on Indian Affairs, comprising a narra- 
tive of a tour performed hi the summer of 1820. New 
Haven, 18^2. 

McCoy, Isaac : History of Baptist India?i Missions, e??i- 
braci?ig Remarks on the Former and Present Co?i- 
dition of the Aboriginal Tribes; their Settlement within 
the Indian Territory and their Future Prospects. 
Washington, 1840. 



APPENDIX. 



273 



Peters, Absalom : A Brief Answer to an Official Reply 
of the Board of Missiojis of the General Assembly to 
Six Letters of the Rev. Absalom Peters, Correspo?iding 
Secretary of the American Home Missionary Society, 
entitled 1 'A Plea for Union i?i the West. ' ' Also, Mr. 
Peters' Reply to the Rev. Dr. f. L. Wilson' 's Four 
Propositions Sustained against the Claims of the 
America?i Home Missionary Society. With an ap- 
pendix. New York, printed by Clayton & Van 
Norden, 1831. 48 pp. 

Bouton, Nathaniel : History of the Origin of the 
American Home Missionary Society. (Article in The 
Home Missionary, 1876.) 

Hennepin, Louis : Description de la Louisiane. Utrecht, 
1697. 

Joutel, : A fournal of the Last Voyage Performed 

by Monsr. de la Sale, to the Gulph of Mexico, to find 
out the Mouth of the Mississippi River. London, 
1714. 

Volney, Constantin Francois : View of the Climate 
and Soil of the United States. London, 1804. 

Bouquet, Henry : An Historical Account of his Expe- 
dition against the Ohio I?idia?is in 1764, with preface 
by Francis Parkma?i, and a tra?islation of Dumas' 
Life of General Bouquet. Cincinnati, 1868. 

Sargent, Winthrop : Diary of Colonel Winthrop Sar- 
gent, Adjutant General of the United States Army 
during the Campaign of 1J91. 

Clark, George Rogers : Sketch of His Campaign in 
the Illinois in ijy8-g, and an Appendix co?itaining 
the Public and Private histructions to Col. Clark; 
a?id Major Bowman' s fournal of the taking of Post 
St. Vincents. Cincinnati, 1869. 



274 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Smith, William Henry : Ed. The Life and Public 
Services of Arthur St. Clair, Soldier of the Revolution- 
ary War, etc., with his Correspo?ide?ice and Papers 
arranged and annotated. Cincinnati, 1882. 

Burnet, Jacob : Notes on the Early Settlement of the 
Northwestern Territory. Portrait. 1847. 

Hildreth, S. P.: Pioneer History ; An Account of the 
First Examination of the Ohio Valley and the Early 
Settle?nent of the Northwest Territory. Cincinnati, 
1848. 

Cox, Sandford C. : Recollections of the Early Settleme?it 
of the Wabash Valley. La Fayette, i860. 

Dawson, Moses : A Historical Narrative of the Civil 
and Military Services of Major- General William 
Henry Harriso7i, and a Vindication of his Character 
and Conduct, with a detail of his Negotiations and 
Wars with the Indians. Cincinnati, 1824. 

Todd, C. S. : Civil and Military Services of W. H. 
Harrison. Cincinnati, 1847. 

Sparks, Jared : Life of Anthony Wayyie. New York, 
1872. 

Parkman, Francis : France a?id England in North 
America. Boston, 1870-84. 

Parkman, Francis : La Salle and the Discovery of the 
Great West. Eleventh edition. Revised with ad- 
ditions. Boston, 1879. 

Marshall, H. : History of Kentucky. Frankfort, 1824. 

Knapp, H. S. : History of the Maumee Valley, commencing 

with its occupation by the French in 1680. Toledo, 

Ohio, 1872. 

Dillon, John B. : A History of Indiana, from its Earliest 
Exploration by Europeans to the close of the Territorial 



APPENDIX. 



275 



Government in 18 16 ; Comprehendiiig a History of 
the Discovery, Settlement, a?id Civil and Military 
Affairs of the Territory of the United States, North- 
west of the River Ohio, and a General Review of the 
Progress of Public Affairs in Indiana, from 18 16 to 
1856. Map and illustrations. Indianapolis, 1859. 

Goodrich, DeWitt C. , and Tuttle, Charles R. : 
Illustrated History of the State of Indiana. Indianap- 
olis, Richard S. Peale & Co., 1875. 

English, Wm. Hayden : Conquest of the Country N. 
W. of the River Ohio. 2 vols. Indianapolis, The 
Bowen- Merrill Company, 1896. 

Dunn, J. P., Jr.: Indiana, a Redemption from Slavery. 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1888. 

Smith, William Henry : History of the Slate of Indiana. 
2 vols. The B. L. Blair Company, Indianapolis. 1897. 

Smith, Oliver H. : Early Indiana Trials and Sketches. 
Cincinnati, 1858. 

Brice, Wallace A. : History of Fort Wayne, Indiana, 
with Biographical Sketches of Anthony. Wayne a?id 
others. Illustrated. Fort Wayne, 1868. 

Brown, Ignatius : I?idia?iapolis Directory, 1868-9. (To 
which is prefixed, History of Indianapolis. ) Indian- 
apolis, 1868. 

Holloway, W. R. : Indianapolis, a Historical and Sta- 
tistical Sketch. Indianapolis, 1870. 

Nowland, J. H. B. : Early Reminiscences of Iidianapolis. 
Indianapolis, 1870. 

Stewart, James Hervey : Recollectio?is of the Early 
Settlement of Carroll County, Indiana. Cincinnati, 
1872. 



276 EARLY INDIANA PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Young, Andrew W. : History of Wayne County, Indiana. 
Illustrated. Cincinnati, 1872. 

Packard, Jasper : History of La Porte County, Indiana. 
La Porte, 1876. 

Hovey, Alvin P., and Edson, William P.: Centennial 
Historical Sketch of Posey County, India?ia, and a 
Centennial Oratio?i by William P. Edson. Mount 
Vernon, 1876. 

Nowland, J. H. B. : Sketches of Promi?ient Citizens of 
Indianapolis. Indianapolis, 1877. 

Reports of Connecticut Missio?iary Society. 

Reports of American Home Missionary Society. 

Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, 1 793-1 820. 

New York Missionary Magazine. 

Indiana Religious Intelligencer, Madison, 1828-9, Rev. 
James H. Johnston, editor. 

Pandect, Cincinnati, 1828, Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, D.D., 
editor. 

Cincinnati Christian fournal, 1829. 
Western Missionary Magazine. 
Evangelical and Literary Magazine (Rice). 
Van Rensselaer's Presbyterian Magazine. 
Abolition Intelligencer (Crowe). 

Missouri Presbyterian Recorder (Hill, Bullard & Homes). 
Western Ce?isor and Emigrants' Guide (Indianapolis). 
Indianapolis Gazette. 

Minutes of the General Assembly, Synod of Kentucky, 
Synod of Indiana, Presbytery of Transylvania, West 
Lexington Presbytery, Salem Presbytery, Madison 
Presbytery. 



INDEX. 



A. B. C. F. M., 153. 
Abingdon Presbytery, 47, 99. 
Alden, Lucius, 75, 206, 207-9. 
Alexander, Archibald, 85, 90, 94, 128, 
245- 

Alexander, Samuel R., 49, 107. 

Alexander, Thomas, 107. 

Alexander, William A. P., 107. 

Allegheny Seminary, 174, 234, 235. 

Allouez, Father, 20. 

American Bible Society, 183, 193. 

American Home Missionary Society, 150, 

174, 175, 200, 202, 204, 206, 212, 213, 214, 

217, 224, 225, 227, 257. 
American Tract Society, 193. 
Amherst College, 117. 
Anderson, Joseph, 61. 
Anderson, Rufus, 153. 

Andover Seminary, 129, 206, 207, 224, 227, 
241. 

Armstrong, John, 38. 

Assembly's Committee of Missions, 59, 71, 

84, 169, 170, 192, 200, 255. 
Ayres, Elias, 243. 
Bainbridge, 212. 
Balch, Hezekiah, 99. 
Balch, Hezekiah James, 99. 
Balch, James, 98-100, 109, 123, 155, 169. 
Balch, Stephen Bloomer, 99. 
Baldridge, Samuel, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 

79, 169, 228. 
Baldridge, Samuel C, 49, 50, 53, 75. 
Baldwin, Elihu W., 252, 253. 
Banks, Daniel C, 84, 123, 152. 
Barnes, Albert, 196, 205. 
Barton, William B., 133. 
Basye, Lismund, 142. 
Baxter, Richard, 96. 
Beatty, Charles C, 36, 154, 155, 191. 
Bedford, 115. 
Bethany church, 112. 
Bethlehem, 57. 
Bevan, Philip, 75. 



Bishop, George B., 250. 

Blackburn, Samuel E., 217. 

Blair, Robert, 13. 

Blake, James, 141, 144, 171. 

Bliss, Stephen, 107, 187, 210. 

Bloomington, 114, 115. 122, 143, 186, 187,. 

189, 218, 229, 230. 
Bloomington State Seminary, in, 169, 186 

187. 

Blue River congregation, 81, 103. 

Blythe, James, 234. 

Boardman, George S., 133. 

Bono church, 104. 

Boone, Daniel, 17. 

Booneville, 224. 

Bovelle, Stephen, 51, 53. 

Breckinridge, John, 94. 

Brookville, 119, 134. 

Brown, Samuel, 81. 

Brown, Tilly H., 167, 169, 187, 200. 

Brownstown church, 84, 119. 

Burlington, Ind., 151. 

Burroughs, George S., 253. 

Bush, George, 97, 169-84, 187, 189, 192, 

193, 214, 225, 235. 
Butler, Calvin, 224-6. 
Caesar Creek, 209. 
Cameron, Archibald, 36, 38, 45. 
Carnahan, James A., 252. 
Carolinas, 11, 13, 28. 
Cartwright, Peter, 41. 
Centerville, 114. 

Charlestown, 41, 45, 51, 53, 55, 64, 95, 120,. 

155, 168, 174, 234, 235, 236. 
Charlestown, Va., 244. 
Cheever, Joshua Cushman, 232. 
Cheever, William M., 105, 160, 232, 233. 
Chute, James, 150. 
Cincinnati, 35, 52, 134, 179. 
Clark, George Rogers, 23, 27, 28. 
Clark grants, 95. 
Clark, Marston G., 138. 
Cleland, Philip S., 113, 116. 



277 



278 



INDEX. 



Cleland, Thomas, 31, 37, 38, 40, 41, 51, 81, 

109, 136, 147. 
Cobb, Leander, 225, 226, 227, 237. 
Coe, Isaac, 141, 142, 144, 170, 171. 
Coligny, Admiral, 11. 
Columbus, Ind., 72, 227. 
Concord church, 75, 120. 
Condict, Lewis, 171, 177. 
Connecticut Missionary Association, 82, 83, 

101, 133, 142, 146, 206, 256. 
Connersville, 134. 
Conner, William, 138. 
Corydon, 80, 138, 154, 190. 
Craighead, Thomas. 19, 93. 
Crawford, James, 18, 19. 
Crawford, James, of Indiana, 217. 
Crawfordsville, 71, 155, 196; 202, 203, 205, 

210, 225, 227, 251, 252. 
Cressy, Benjamin C, 103, 241, 242. 
Crowe, John Finley, 79, 97, 156, 157-61, 

162, 171, 174, 200, 205, 231, 232, 236, 237. 
Crozier, John, 106. 
Cumberland church, 34. 
Cumberland controversy, 37. 
Cumberland Presbytery, 99. 
Cunningham, John W., 250. 
Curtis, Harvey, 75. 
Dablon, Claude, 20. 
Danville, Ky., no, 157, 185. 
Dartmouth College, 136, 146, 170. 
Davies, Samuel, 16, 17, 19, 85, 86, 87, 89, 

92, 96. 
Davies, Samuel, 13. 

Day, Ezra H., 97, 145, 152, 153, 167, 169. 
Delphi, 190. 

Derrow, Nathan B., 75, 83. 
De Soto, 20. 

Dickerson, Henry L., 210. 

Dickey, James H., 45, 53. 

Dickey, John McElroy, 40, 54, 61-79, 97> 
101, 109, 136, 152, 158, 162, 171, 200, 205, 
219, 228, 231, 234, 235, 236, 237. 

Dickey, Ninian S., 67, 97. 

Dickey, William, 63, 84. 

Dillsborough, 50, 208. 

Doak, Samuel, 46, 47, 51. 

Domestic Missionary Society, 193, 197. 

Dufour, 27. 

Dunbar, n. 

Duncan, James, 217. 

Dunlapsville, 134. 

Dunn, Williamson, 119, 189, 234. 252. 



Eagle Creek church, 96. 
Ebenezer church, 154. 
Edwards, Jonathan, 86, 87. 
Eliot, John, n. 
Ellis, John M., 251. 
Evansville, 84, 224. 
Fall River, Mass., 124, 125. 
Finley, Samuel, 56, 158. 
Florida, 11. 
Foote, Obed, 170. 

Fort Wayne (Kekionga), 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 

29, 52, 148, 149, 150. 
Fowler, Orin, 75, 97, 101, 116, 117-27, 152. 
Franklin, 72, 104, 135, 136. 
Frazer, Alexander, 171. 
Fulton, Samuel, 36. 
Gaines, Ludwell G., 142. 
General Assembly, 61, 101, no, 128,129, 
I 33» 156, 171, 174, 200, 210, 218, 

234, 235, 243, 247, 25S, 256, 260. 
Gilliland, John, 251. 
Goodell, William, 75, 97, 153, 154. 
Graham church, 83. 
Granville, Ohio, no. 
Gray, Daniel, 61. 
Graysville, 100. 
Green, Lewis W., 250. 
Greensburgh, 212. 
Greenville College, 99. 
Greenwood, 98. 
Gregg, Samuel, 210. 

Hall, Baynard R., no, 114, 169, 184-90, 

193, 218, 229. 
Hall, Nathan H., 63. 
Hamilton College, 196, 198. 
Hamilton, James, 13. 
Hamilton, John T., 167, 168, 169, 235. 
Hampton, John, 13. 
Hanna, Samuel, 149. 

Hanover Academy, 201, 234, 236, 237, 241. 
Hanover College, 79, 159, 230, 234, 246. 
Hanover, Ind., 50, 57, 115, 136, 159, 232, 
239> 244- 

Hanover Theological Seminary, 240, 241. 

Hanover, Va., 14, 16, 18, 19, 87, 90. 

Harmar, 28. 

Harney, John H., 229. 

Harris, Thompson S., 133 

Harrison, Ohio, 118. 

Harrison, William Henry, 23, 28, 39, 41, 
80. 

Hawley, Ransom, 116. 



INDEX. 



279 



Henderson, Alexander, 13. 

Henderson, William, 227. 

Hickman, Clement, 84, 169. 

Hobart, Peter, 11. 

Hoge, Samuel D., 170. 

Holland, 134. 

Holt, Samuel, 30. 

Honey Creek church, 49. 

Hopewell church (Turman's Creek), 100. 

Hovey, Edmund O., 251. 

Howe, John, 64. 

Humphrey, Edward P., 248. 

Indiana Missionary Society, 72, 193, 200, 

201, 209, 224, 225, 231, 258. 
Indiana Religious hitelligencer , 202. 
Indianapolis, 104, 138-47, 155, 170, 174, 

178, 186, 187, 189, 191, 192,214. 
Indiana, Synod of, 161, 210, 216, 219-24, 

236, 260. 

Indiana Theological Seminary, 159, 174, 

234, 242, 247. 
Jacob, Henry, 12. 
Jefferson church, 121. 
Jeffersonville, 55, 217. 
Jenks, Ahab, 133. 

Johnston, James H., 72, 79, 151, 159, 192, 
!93> 194-205, 224, 231, 234, 236, 237, 239, 
240. 

Joutel, 21, 22. 

Kemper, James, 35, 36, 53. 

Kentucky, 14, 17, 18, 19, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 
35- 38, 39, 4o, 41, 46, 47, S3, 60, 82, 93, 
96, 109, no, in, 146, 147, 154, 158. 

Kentucky, Synod of, 131, 162, 218, 259 

Ketcham, John, 25, 122. 

Kingston, 135, 212 . 

Knox County, 42, 45. 

La Fayette (Ouiatenon), 22, 24, 26, 189. 

Laggan Presbytery, 12, 13. 

Lancaster Presbytery, 48. 

Lapsley, Joseph B., 51, 53, 81. 

La Salle, 21. 

Law, John, 28. 

Lawrenceburgh, 46, 47, 48, 50, 53, 55, 134, 

228, 259. 
Lexington, 42, 51, 68. 
Lindsley, Philip, 250. 
Little, Henry, 74, 115, 190, 202, 210. 
Livingston, Robert, 11, 12. 
Livonia, 82, 103, 104, 106, 145. 
Londonderry, 13. 
Long Island Presbytery, 108. 



Louisville, 39, 95, 123, 168. 
Louisville Presbytery, 155, 168, 217, 259. 
Lowry, Samuel G., 155, 212-3. 
Lowry, William, 117, 227. 
Lyle, John, 102. 

MacMaster, Erasmus Darwin, 246-50. 

MacMaster, Gilbert, 246. 

Madison, 57, 58, 59, 72, 109, 119, 124, 128, 

136, 156, 168, 192, 198, 199, 200, 202, 203. 
Madison Presbytery, 58, 210, 212, 217, 218, 

232. 

Madison University, 246. 

Makemie Francis, 12, 13, 14, 18. 

Marest, Father, 22. 

Marquette, 20, 21. 

Martin, Claudius B. H, 107. 

Martin, Samuel N. D., 107. 

Martin, William A. P., 107. 

Martin, William W., 79, 97, 101, 102-7, 

109, 119, 120, 144, 158, 162, 170, 205, 219, 

226, 228, 231, 237. 
Massachusetts Missionary Society, 54, 55. 
Matthews, John, 174, 205, 237, 239, 241, 

243-6. 
McCalla, Daniel, 91. 
McClelland, John, 13. 
McClung, John A., 95. 
McClure, Andrew, 19. 
McClure, D., 109. 

McCormick Theological Seminary, 243. 

McCoy, Isaac, 148. 

McFarland, Francis, 133. 

McGready, James, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 41, 43, 

53, 81, 84, 100. 
McLeod, Lewis, 209. 
McNemar, Richard, 134. 
McNish, George, 13. 
Mecklenburgh Declaration, n, 99. 
Merrill, Samuel, 76. 
Miami Presbytery, 48, 52, 56, 134, 259. 
Miami University, 246. 
Middlebury College, 150. 
Milligan, Thomas S., 68, 73, 213. 
Mills, Caleb, 252. 

Mills, Samuel J., 35, 40, 54, 55, 56, 61, 75. 

Missouri, 129, 133, 142. 

Missouri Presbytery, 218. 

Monfort, David, 133-5, 136. 

Moore, James, 91, 94. 

Moreland, John R., 178, 237. 

Moriah, N. Y., 114. 

Morris Reading House, 15. 



28o 



INDEX. 



Mount Carmel, 134. 
Mount Pleasant, 120. 

Muhlenburg Presbytery, 65, 167, 259, 260. 
Nelson, Samuel K., 110. 
Nesbit, William, 210. 

New Albany, 55, 84, 109, 110, 145, 151, 

152, 167, 168, 243, 247, 249. 
New Brunswick Presbytery, 86, 170, 210. 
New Castle Presbytery, 52. 
New Hope church, 49, 75. 
New Lexington church, 68, 71, 121. 
New Providence church, 50, 72, 98. 
New Winchester, 212. 
New York, 109. 
North Carolina, 32, 33, 34. 
Northwestern Territory, 23. 
Noyes, James, n. 
Ogden, Isaac A., 218. 
Ohio, 30, 35. 
Ohio, Falls of the, 55. 
Ohio, Synod of, 149, 259. 
Oneida Female Missionary Society, 108. 
Orleans, 103, 104. 
Oxford, Ohio, 118. 
Palestine church, 104. 
Palmyra church, 45, 53, 64. 
Paoli, 103, 104, 119, 226. 
Paris, Ky., 102. 
Parker, Thomas, 11. 
Parkersburgh, 212. 
Peaks of Otter, 18, 19. 
Pennsylvania, 13, 32, 102. 
Perrin, Truman, 216. 
Pisgah church, 68, 71, 75, 81. 
Pittinger, Nicholas, 156. 
Pittsburg Missionary Society, 61. 
Piatt, Adams W., 133. 
Posey, Thomas, 80, 138, 151. 
Post, Martin M., 73, 79. 
Princeton College, 17, 85, 89, 129, 170, 185. 
Princeton, Ind., 84, 103, 104, 224, 226, 246. 
Princeton, N. J., 19, 93, 158, 169, 174, 179, 

192, 193, 196, 197, 217, 227, 239. 
Princeton Seminary, in, 128, 129, 134, 136, 

150, 158, 170, 196, 209. 
Proctor, David Choate, 142, 143, 145, 146, 

147. i54, 169, 170- 
Putnam ville, 115. 
Rankin, Adam. 18, 19. 
Rankin, Arthur T., 47. 
Rankin, John, 47, 150. 
Rannels, Samuel, 31, 41, 102. 



Ray, James M., 141, 142, 144, 171, 217. 
Redstone Presbytery, 33. 
Reed, Isaac, 97, 101, 107-16, 119, 123, 136^. 
142, 144, 152, 162, 170, 171, 187, 189, 192, 

228. 

Rice, David, 17, 18, 19, 36, 38, 85, 90. 

Richmond, Ind., 150, 169. 

Ripley, Ohio, 150. 

Rising Sun, 36, 75, 209, 259. 

Rivet, Father, 228. 

Roan, John, 16. 

Robertson, Samuel B., 31, 41, 45, 53. 
Robinson, Charles Stebbins, 129, 130. 
Robinson, Hezekiah, 251. 
Robinson, Joseph, 218. 

Robinson, William, of Indiana, 48, 51, 54,-. 

56, 57, 59, 60, 65, 79, 101, 109, 122, 136, 

162, 169, 228. 
Robinson, William, of Virginia, 15, 16. 
Rockville, 212. 

Rodgers, Ravaud K., ior, 123, 127, 128,.. 
129, 155. 

Ross, John, 73, 75, 148, 149, 150, 151, 153, 
169. 

Salem church, 82, 103, 119, 120. 

Salem Presbytery, 113, 155, 162-6, 167, 169, . 

187, 200, 210, 217, 218, 226, 231, 232, 259, 

260. 

Schermerhorn, John F., 54. 

Scott, Samuel Thornton, 40, 42, 43, 44, 51,. 

53, 54, 64, 65, 79, 101, 109, 154, 162, 169,. 

192, 193, 205. 226, 228, 259. 
Scott, William M., 250. 
Scribner, Joel, 151. 
Scudder, Caleb, 141, 143, 171. 
Searle, Thomas C, 136, 137, 156, 169. 
Shannon, Samuel, 81. 
Shelby, Colonel, 39. 
Shelbyville, 98. 
Shiloh church, 154. 
Small, Colonel, 41. 
Smith, Daniel, 54, 55. 
South Carolina, 161. 
South Marion church, 96, 98. 
Spencer, 189. 
Sprague, William B., 117. 
Spring, Gardiner, 239. 
St. Clair, Arthur, 23, 28. 
Stevens, Thomas, 79. 
Stevens, William, 12. 
Stewart, James, 210. 
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 78. 



INDEX. 



28l 



Sullivan, Jeremiah, 138, 183. 
Taylor, Nathaniel, 13. 
Taylor, SamueL 169. 
Templin, Terah, 18. 
Tennents, 16. 

Tennessee, 28, 35, 47, 83, 133. 

Terre Haute, 52, 134, 155, 226. 

Thomas, Thomas Ebenezer, 250. 

Thomson, James, 227,251. 

Thomson, John, 134. 

Thomson, John S., 251. 

Thornton, John, 91. 

Tipton, 15 c 

Todd, Henry G., 96. 

Todd, John, Colonel, 91. 

Todd, John, of Indiana, 79, 84-98, 101, 

109, 162, 228. 
Todd, John, of Virginia, 17, 85-92. 
Transylvania Academy, 42. 
Transylvania Presbytery, 19, 31, 36, 37, 45, 

51, 56, 61, 93, 94, 99, 109, 255, 258, 259. 
Transylvania University, 134. 
Trimble, Joseph, 156, 169, 198. 
Turman's Creek, 100, 155. 
Tuttle, Joseph F., 204, 253. 
Union College, 185, 192, 246. 
United Domestic Missionary Society, 112, 

132, 170, 207, 209, 257. 
Vance, James, 36, 45, 53. 
Vancourt, John, 133. 
Velona, 120. 

Vermont University, 170. 
Vernon church, 136. 
Versailles, 115. 
Vevay, 119. 

Vincennes, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 31, 32, 36, 
37, 39, 40, 41 44, 45- 5*, S3, 57, 64, 71, 
104, 122, 123, 124, 138, 154, 155, 187, 192, 
211, 216, 218, 219, 228, 259. 

Vincennes University, 229, 230. 

Virginia, 13, 18, 23, 27, 28, 31, 35, 46, 83, 
92, 98. 



Virginia, Synod of, 259. 
Volney, C. F. C, 25, 26. 
Wabash College, 88, 212, 227, 250. 
Wabash Presbytery, 178, 218. 
Waddel, James, 85, 91, 92, 101. 
Wallace, Matthew G., 48, 52, 53, 148. 
Walnut Hills, 174, 234, 235. 
Washington Academy, 93. 
Washington church, 54, 65, 212, 224, 226. 
Washington College, 47, 190, 229. 
Washington, George, 14, 27. 
Washington Presbytery, 48, 259. 
Waveland, 212. 
Wayne, Anthony, 24, 27. 
Welsh, James, 48, 61. 

West Lexington Presbytery, 31, 42, 93, 

102, 259. 
West Salem church, 104. 
Whitaker, Alexander, 11. 
White, Charles, 253. 
Whitefield, George, 88. 
Whitewater, 139. 
Wick, William W., 171. 
Williams College, 54, 116, 129. 
Williams, Jesse L., 52. 
Williamson, Alexander, 169, 187, 190, 191, 

193, 200. 
Williamson, Thomas, 30. 
Wilson, Joshua L., 48. 
Wilson, Peter, 52. 
Wirt, William, 101. 
Wood, James, 250. 
Woolsey, Theodore D., 203, 204. 
Wylie, Andrew, 189, 229. 
Wylie, William, 81. 
Yale College, 117, 203. 
Yandes, Daniel, 170. 

Young, John, 169, 193, 195, 194, 198, 
199. 

Young Men's Missionary Society (N. Y.), 
136, 257. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proces 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: June 2006 

PreservationTechnologiei 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIO 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



